Diaper Days

I'm back....For a season at least...

2007-10-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

So much to write about, where to start? Sorry I just dropped off my blog without any warning. We had to figure out a way to make cutbacks when Max lost his job back in May....Internet, home phone, and cable were the first to go. As everyone knows, because of my mother's blog (I would make one of those fancy links to it right there, but I don't know how to), Max got a job up north near Antecortes working with foster children. I am on "rest" with my pregnancy right now, and I have an almost two year old. So, I really can't be left alone 31/2 days a week right now, which is what his schedule up there requires. We ultimately decided to have him commute back and forth while we live with my parents for a while (and they graciously let us do so), instead of moving up there now. I am also homeschooling my sister Lizzie, so we'll stick around until the end of the school year instead of just after the baby is born. Anyways, long story short, I'll have Internet access for at least the next few months.

Max is really enjoying his job- he likes trying to make a difference, so I really hope everything works out for him in the long run. Even if it's hard for him to drive back and forth right now. So, those are the big changes...looking to the future now...

Alana is going to be 2 years old in November, and she's getting a baby sister for her birthday....She might even have to share her birthday with her since my due date is December 1, and Alana's birthday is November 21st. Alana was born 2 weeks early, so it's not crazy to think that this one could be born nine days early. This holiday season will be chaotic for sure, I'm not even sure I'll remember it in later years!

Here are some recent pictures of Alana, one of her on the potty (I know it's mean- it's just so comical!), and another of her at Wild Waves. The one of me is at 31 weeks, it's my most recent tummy picture. :)

Just letting everyone know that I haven't died...

2007-03-05T22:34:00.000-08:00

I thought I might there for a while! I had pneumonia, and it put me out for quite a while. Everyone has had something this winter it seems. I'm feeling much better now, though. I haven't had time recently to even check on other's blogs, much less write on my own....and now, it's time for me to go to bed! I will try to write a real post soon! The pix are of our first nice day around here and Alana soaking in all of the outside time while Mommy was picking up branches, the other one is of the dress my mom made her. She was being very uncooperative that day, and this was the best picture I could get of it......Hopefully I can get a better one later! She still looks cute, though!

"Daddy got Mommy a vanity for Christmas- and he got me one too!"

2007-01-21T17:07:00.000-08:00

Here are some picture of our tree and the prime rib I made for Christmas Eve.

2007-01-21T16:59:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Alana at Christmas.

2007-01-21T16:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I know it's been forver!

2007-01-21T16:47:00.000-08:00

Since it's been so long I'll just give you a brief overview of what's been going on for the last month and a half. The holidays were good, the weather has been horrible, I think that a least one person in the family has been sick or had some sort of ailment since then, and I started a new stitching project! Here is the finished product. My mom knew how much I liked the "P" and "W" that Von stitched, so she got me an "R" for Christmas. I'm not very happy with the colors, but it's okay- I think it'll look good in our bedroom, if my mom can help me, maybe I'll make it into a throw pillow. I'm making another one right now for Max's dad- it's his 60th birthday- and those colors are perfect. I'll post a picture of that when I'm done!

Happy Birthday Alana!

2006-12-01T12:54:00.000-08:00

Alana's first birthday was on the 21st. We had a party for her here at the house on Sunday, and then on her actual birthday we celebrated at my Mom and Dad's house. Alana had a blast, but I think she liked the bows and tissue paper more than she liked the presents. I've heard that's pretty typical of this age. The first picture is at my parents house on her actual birthday, the second at her party, and the last one is of the outfit we had her pictures professionally taken in for her birthday. I don't have a scanner, otherwise I would have scanned in those actual pictures. We went to Max's dad's house for Thanksgiving this year. It was nice and relaxed, but for some reason it never feels like the holidays unless your home. I can't believe Christmas is getting close, because I still feel like I'm waiting for Thanksgiving to happen! I had my first wisdom tooth pulled on Wednesday. I have to have all four pulled, but since I can't afford the anesthesia, I have to have them pulled one at a time. Not fun. I don't want to do it again. Anyways, so, I'm pretty busy. Next week is my first week back full time, so soon I'll be even busier! I can't even imagine! EEK!

Birthday cake: before and after

2006-12-01T12:44:00.000-08:00

While I couldn't get these to go in the order I wanted them to, you can clearly see the clean baby, the baby who's just getting started, and the after the cake picture! She loved the chocolate!

Busy....but not a lot to show for it!

2006-11-12T15:57:00.000-08:00

We went to the beach a couple weeks ago, I meant to post pictures sooner, but I've been pretty busy recently. We played on the beach, and looked around the little shops, and ate dinner at a cute little restaurant. Alana loved playing in the sand, a little too much actually, she ended up doing a faceplant into it, as you can see. The diaper wipes didn't clean up her face as much as I had hoped, so we had to head to the nearest McDonald's so we could borrow their changing table and sink. Alana's first birthday is on the 21st, so we've been busy making party plans. One year old's are kind of hard to buy for...It's too tempting to get them what they need, and not necessarily what would be fun. I'm kind of sad as she takes this step out of babyhood. I'm going to miss it! I am excited to see her grow into a little girl, though, it's been fun watching her grow up this far! I went to the eye doctor, and they gave me some much needed glasses last week. Apparently I had been driving illegally for some time.. I knew my eyes were bad- I just didn't know how bad! It really became clear (no pun intended) how badly I needed them the second I put them on and drove home.. Did you know that street signs have numbers under the part were it says SE, NE, etc.. Yeah, I didn't. I asked mom, she said it had to do with the block numbers. Hmmm... Seeing is a good thing! I also went to the dentist, and they said that my wisdom teeth are impacted, and that's why they never grew in. I have to get them pulled. One at a time, and with no anesthesia, because my insurance doesn't cover it. I'm really scared. I've never had any dental work done, except for when they put in sealants when I was 14. While it's supposedly pain free, I'm not really excited about being awake. Ugh. Well, I'll try to post and let you all know how Alana's birthday went soon..We're getting her birthday and Christmas pictures taken on Friday..So if I can get them scanned into Mom's computer, I can show you them when they get done!

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-30T18:24:00.000-08:00

I dressed Alana up in a hand-me-down costume for Halloween. I'm a sucker for kids in costumes. Max and I aren't really sure what we're going to do about celebrating Halloween, but at least this year we don't really have to decide. So, this year she get all cute, and we'll have her help give out candy to the trick-or-treaters. I think eventually she'll go to the church parties. Anyways, I hope everyone has a good and safe Halloween this year. This is what my little butterfly is going to look like:

Sick of being sick!

2006-09-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

We've all been sick this past week with the flu, the snotty nose, coughing kind. It hasn't been very much fun, and I had to take most of the week off of work. I'm realizing once again how much everything changes once you're a parent. It's so much easier being sick when you don't have anyone else to take care of! Especially when they are sick to and want you to hold them all the time, and are cranky themselves. I used to just sleep my sickness away. Now I get less sleep then normal because she's miserable too. At least my sweet husband let me sleep in today, and I'm starting to feel better. Now that Alana has conquered walking she's really starting to be vocal. I'm not sure if it's because she's sick and is being demanding, or if it's because she's switching her energy to her vocal skills now. If though she's been moody, and I haven't felt well, it has really been nice being able to spend so much time with her this week, I really miss her sometimes during the work week.
Here are some more pictures:
Alana feeding herself spagetti....kind of.
Alli and Alana playing a game with Alli's sweat-shirt strings -Hmmm, I wonder where Alana gets her hair from?
My first real blackmail picture. Although, she did get her revenge, you'll never guess what she did all over the floor not seconds after I took this picture!

Playing Catch up.

2006-09-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know it's been forever, but if you notice, I've been so busy lately I had to post at midnight to get one in! We finally got moved and settled in for the most part, after a series of mishaps that prolonged the experience much longer than I would have liked.. now we are finally able to just enjoy our house! We LOVE it! It's a little on the 70's side on the inside, but it fits our needs perfectly! I got a new job at work, I'm now the Ad service's assistant manager's secretary. Long title, and the job's just as busy, but I'm really liking it! I feel so grown up now. Alana is 9 1/2 months old, and she's walking...Yes, walking. No, I'm not ready for it, I don't know what I'm going to do when she can run! She's so busy, always has been, it's exhausting keeping up with her! The stinker decided to say her first word too. Not momma, no because I gave birth to her, and that would be too obvious. Dadda. That's what she says. You ask for her to say Momma, and she turns and points to Daddy and says Dadda. Like she's saying, "Well, I can't say that, but I know Dadda, Mommy." Hmmm..... I think I'm going to have to work a little harder with the next one. I know he's been slipping Dadda's to her for months behind my back. Well, I've been hearing some requests for more pictures, so if you scroll down, I put them in the following posts. Enjoy!!

2006-09-09T23:54:00.000-07:00

After Aunt Alli put Sunblock on me, I went swimming for the first time at my Uncle Steve's lake! It was cold at first, but boy, I had fun!!!

What, was I not supposed to pee in Uncle Steve's sink? ...one of me and Mommy, swimming's fun!

2006-09-09T23:49:00.000-07:00

Here's one of me sleeping, one of me walking with my empty milk carton, and one of me ready for church!

2006-09-09T23:44:00.000-07:00

It's fun waking Daddy up!

2006-09-09T23:41:00.000-07:00

Is Daddy coming home soon?

2006-09-09T23:36:00.000-07:00

Fun in the sink.

2006-09-09T23:33:00.000-07:00

We're moving this weekend!

2006-08-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, so before I start this post, I figure I better explain the picture. Alana takes rice cereal in her bottle, she actually won't take one with out it, so even though you really aren't supposed to do that, she does. Max mixed her a bottle the other day, and it was just a little too thick. He shook the bottle to get the nipple unclogged, before he was going to water it down, and he decided to do it in a downward motion. Needless to say, Alana was face up under the bottle. We were all laughing so hard!
Alana's going to be walking any day now. She's cruising the furniture, and she'll stand alone for about 20 seconds before she falls down. I tried to put a picture of her cruising on here, but after I put the first one on, blogger warned me about something to do with java something and cookies. Whatever that means! Sounds like a day at the coffee shop!
So, moving on...We are getting all packed up, and we'll be moving this weekend! I'm taking the rest of the week off of work, so I can get everything done without as much stress, but Alana isn't really helping in that department. She's into everything! We'll be switching internet severs in the process, so I'll send everyone my new email address once we have it. I also probably won't be on blogger for a while. We aren't getting our new hookup until the 9th.
Alana has officially had her last bottle of breastmilk today. I'm done. I wanted to be able to give her milk until she was a year old, but my milk supply has been depleting rapidly for a while now. I tried everything, but have been having to supplement with formula for about two weeks now, and it just seems pointless to go through all the work of pumping for maybe a bottle a day when I still am having to spend so much on formula. I just wish she had been a better nurser. I'm trying to not beat myself up about it, but it feels like I failed reaching my goal. Hopefully I'll have better luck next time. At least I surpassed the six month mark!
Oh, and a quick update on Brent, he had a very successful second surgery, and I think that they will be moving him back to the rehab center soon to prepare for yet another surgery. Things went much better this time.

We got the house!

2006-07-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

What a week this has been! Alana has had a ear infection all week, but when we first went to the doctor on Monday he told us she just had a virus. So, we didn't get the antibiotics in her until Thursday, when we brought her back in and were told that she did indeed have a bad ear infection. I was a little irritated by this, considering Alana could have been feeling better by Wednesday, I wouldn't have had to take as much time off work, we could've saved one of the co-payments, etc. Especially since I had suspected that she had an infection in the first place and that's why I initially had brought her in on Monday! Doctors sometimes, really!
We got our house! We move in the second week of August! I'm so excited that we're going to be so close to my parents! And we'll have so much more space! Yay!!!
I still haven't heard back on that job, my boss thinks it's probably because I am not their first pick, but if they get turned down by the outsider, they want to still have me around to give the job to. So, essentially, I probably got "second place". Of course, they would never tell me that. So, more waiting....
Also, my mom has some good news, which I'm sure she'll be more than happy to tell everyone!
Here are some more pix of our new house...Yay!!

I think we found our house!

2006-07-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

So, I think we might have found the house we have been looking for! It's in Lacey, about five minutes from my Mom's house! We are just waiting on the application to go through. There are many people who want this house though, so we are keeping our fingers crossed. It's not the most beautiful place in the world, but it's in our price range, and we love the location. It also has three bedrooms, so have room for our family to grow if we stay there for awhile. I like it. It has a pretty large fenced yard too. If we get this place, we will be moving in the middle of August, I hope it works out.
Alana's appointment for the pediatric neurologist is August 16th, so that means even more waiting. I try not to think about the situation too much, it can drive a person crazy.
Max's "middle" cousin, Adam, got married today in the tri-cities. Adam wanted Brent to be his best man, but since Brent will be in the hospital for quite awhile, Adam asked Brent's girlfriend Jen to stand in for him. She has been at Brent's side everyday since he's been hospitalized. I hope he marries her.
Well, I included a pic of the house from the road, (I can't get the other one's to pull up) and one of upside-down Alana, hope everyone had a good holiday!

Happy Fourth of July!

2006-07-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

Have fun! Be safe!

She's so close to crawling!

2006-07-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

Alana is so close to crawling. She gets up on all fours and then rocks, sometimes takes a couple steps, and then she'll just flop back down on her tummy, and army crawl where she wants to go. Periodically she'll get back up on all fours, and then go back down again. It's really cute. The closer she gets to crawling, though, the more I realize that I'm really not prepared for her to be mobile. She's into everything! What am I going to do when she can get there quicker?
Max and I are still house searching. It's just so hard to find something we want and actually get there to see it before anyone else scoops it up. Hopefully we'll find something soon.
We still haven't heard anything about the referral for Alana. I can't call the doctor's office to check up on it at work because I've been assigned to scanning. I would call on my break, but I usually sit on hold with them for at least a half and hour, and I only have fifteen minute breaks. I just interviewed for the second time for a position in the Marketing department. I had never heard about people interviewing twice for lower level positions before, but apparently it is a really competitive position because the opportunities to promote in the position are really great. I was the only person from State Farm selected to have the second interview, and she interviewed two other people from the outside with Marketing degrees along with me.... So, we'll see how it goes.
Nothing else really new going on, I'll keep you updated!

Let's see if this works!

2006-06-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

There we go!!!

More updates..

2006-06-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

Alana is still having seizures, so the doctor wants to refer her to a pediatric neurologist. We're still waiting for the referral to come in, and then we'll get her in. Brent is probably going to be moved from ICU soon, it looks like he's going to survive this surgery, but he has another 2-3 to go. He's already been in the hospital for three weeks, and it looks like he has many more to go. It'll be a miracle if he's able to attend his brother's wedding in July.
On a lighter note, Alana has cut her first tooth. Man, those suckers are sharp! I'm actually kind of glad I'm not nursing her anymore- she gets mom's milk in a bottle now. She never really was a good nurser, she's too fascinated by everything else to sit still that long. She's clapping, waving "hi" and "bye", saying "yay" and "Hi" in her baby talk. But still no crawling. She is very content to roll and scoot everywhere. We play this game where I put her binky in my mouth, and she quickly takes it out of my mouth and puts it in her own. She does it everytime, as quick as she can too- it's like she can't stand to see me with it. She gives it to Daddy though, and yes, it offends me. Until she claps and goes "Yaaaay" because of it, then she's too cute to be mad at anymore. She is so much fun right now, I'm having a blast, I just wish I could keep her like this forever sometimes. I've included some pictures, one is almost three weeks old, it's of her trying out her sippy cup for the first time. The other one is from about two weeks ago. Alli brought a milkshake over when she came to visit. Alana was fascinated by it, and we decided to let her see what the straw was about, not thinking that she could possibly figure it out on her own. We were wrong- she got the milkshake up, and of course, she loved it. She wouldn't leave Alli alone after that- and I think she drank most of the rest of it herself. She was hyper the rest of the night. No more milkshakes for her- but it was sure cute to watch her enjoy it for the time being. The last one is at my mom's birthday dinner at olive garden. Blogger isn't letting me put any more pictures on this one for some reason, so I'll try putting them on their own seperate post.

A Normal EEG!

2006-06-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Alana's EEG is normal, but they said it can't rule out seizures. She hasn't had any in a week, so I'm hoping she was just having episodes, and that was it. She has another appointment on the 9th, so we'll go from there. I guess the next test would be a 24 hour EEG, so I'm really hoping we don't have to do that. The hour we kept her still last time was one of the longest hours of my life! I wish we could just move onto something else. My husband's cousin, Brent, isn't doing well, please keep him in your prayers as well. We thought he was doing okay after the aneurysm, but he started bleeding again, and they had to rush him into emergency surgery. They only gave him a 50/50 chance of surviving the surgery. He made it, but when they took the breathing tube out, they had to put it back in. He's going to have to have several more surgeries after he recovers from this one, each one will have a low survival rate. Thank you for all your prayers. On a lighter note, Alana is trying really hard to crawl. she just doesn't get that she needs to stay in the crawling position to move. She gets up there and then drops down to the fish out of water scoot she does. I think she really is just happy to roll everywhere. She is so cute.

Can you pray for us?

2006-05-24T16:39:00.000-07:00

Alana started having seizures on Monday. I came home from work and took her to the doctors, and he said it's going to have to be an elimination process to figure out why she is having them. She was supposed to have her EEG today, but their machine broke, so we have to Seattle tomorrow. I am so thankful my company lets me use sick leave for things like this! This is really hard on us. Unfortunately my husband's brother has a brain tumor, and he had to go through all the testing when he was little. We also have a family history of epilepsy. Please pray that we will have the strength to get through this, and that everything will turn out okay for Alana. Thank you.

Mother's Day

2006-05-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

My first Mother's day went really well. We had family dinner at my Grandparent's house, and also celebrated my sister Allison's 20th birthday. It was such a lovely day, and I received lots of really nice things. One of my husband's presents to me was the best. He wrote me a sweet Mother's Day poem, put Alana's footprints on it, and framed it for me. It made me cry, and now I have it sitting on my desk for work. Allison got in a car accident on her birthday and so she was unable to watch Alana for me this week. My mom took Monday and Tuesday off to watch her, and I took Wednesday off. So, Wednesday I decided to crack open a book for the first time since Alana's been born. I read the first two books in the series already! It's such a good series, I can't wait to get my hands on the third one. The series is called "The Chronicles of the Kings"- and it focuses mainly on the reign of King Hezekiah. Very, very good books. I love stories that are fictional accounts of biblical stories. While I know that it is probably not the way it really happened, I think it helps the stories become more real and personal. Anyways, I am very proud of my new feat! Maybe next I can tackle stitching! I do kind of feel like I'm neglecting Alana though, I had to read a few chapters aloud to her to try to appease her, she's been very clingy lately. We still haven't been able to find that "perfect" place yet. Hopefully we can find one soon! Here's some pictures of Alana helping mommy brush her hair.

I love Saturday!

2006-05-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

Saturdays are great. I love not having to go to work. Most Saturdays I spend cleaning my house, so that it looks habitable again. During the week I usually only have time to keep it sanitary. By Friday it looks like a tornado went through it. I'm not saying that I like Saturdays because I like to clean the house, but it is so nice to be able to sit down in a clean house by Saturday evening. We are looking for a new house to rent, so we went looking this morning. We saw some nice places, but they are either a little out of our price range to upkeep, or the location is just not what we're looking for. I fell in love with a place in Lacey, it's 1940's style with hardwood floors, and we can afford the rent, but it has oil heat. I had never heard about oil heat before, but apparently that's how it is in most older houses. So, anyways, I guess it would cost about $150 dollars more a month to heat, and we'd have to pay water/sewer/garbage. So, really can't afford it. It's just a bummer because it was so close to my Mom's house. Oh, well, there will be other houses. My mom smocked a dress for Alana, and she got to wear it for the first time this week. She looked so cute! I love smocked dresses! I told you all that I would post a picture of Alana in her Easter dress, so I have one of those too. Sorry it's so late after Easter. Oh, I almost forgot, I had a question for everyone! Alana is eating solid foods now, and her pediatrician told me to give her veggies before she gets fruits, that way I guess more babies end up liking veggies. So I've given her sweet potatoes, carrots, and green beans. She wasn't really thrilled with the carrots, but liked the other stuff. I just have a hard time picking out veggies that she may like, for one, because I don't really like them myself; and two, because, I don't really want to waste it if she doesn't like it. I know it's not expensive so I shouldn't care, but there's that baby in Africa who doesn't get to eat..... So, I guess what I'm asking is, does anyone have any suggestions for veggies to try? Anything that your kids liked in particular?

More updates....

2006-04-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

Alana started sitting last week! She's sitting pretty well on her own now. It's really nice. She's still no where close to scooting yet. If you put her on her stomach, and set something out of her reach, she kind of just moves her arms and legs like she's trying to swim. I don't think she gets that she actually has to make contact with the floor yet. So I think that she might be a little ahead with the sitting thing, but a little behind on the moving thing which is exactly what I want! I love it when babies can sit on their own, but can't go anywhere! I might actually get a while to enjoy this faze.. Alana is officially 5 months old today! Yeah! I don't know where the last five months have gone though. It feels like she's been here forever, but at the same time, it doesn't feel like it could have possibly been 5 months. Here are some cute pictures of Miss Jo, and one of my birthday at Mom's house the day of.

Sorry, I know It's been forever....

2006-04-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, so there is no way to catch everyone up in one post, so I'll try my best to stay on top of a few this weekend. We'll see how this goes. Thanks for everyone's advice on feedings with Alana. The next day we put some rice in her bottle, and now she won't take one with out it. Or nurse. That's okay, I guess, because my milk is still coming in, and she wasn't able to nurse that often anyway with me at work. I got her to eat well from the bowl tonight, she ate the entire thing, and I took some pictures. She still had tons on her face! My birthday went well, we went out to the outback the night before my birthday, and went to my mom's the day of. It was nice. I had my hubby take a pic of me at the restaurant. Look at the size of that beer! I could hardly finish it! Easter went well too, but I forgot to get a picture of Alana in her Easter dress. Oops. Maybe my mom has one she can share! Everyone (meaning the extended family) was amazed to see how much she had grown! She's grown almost a pound in the last two weeks. All that rice, I think. Well, I really need to go to bed, the screen is getting fuzzy, but like I said, I'll try to post again soon.

"Wiggles"

2006-03-24T22:25:00.000-08:00

When I was still pregnant with Alana, and would go in for an ultrasound, she would, more often then not, get the nickname "wiggles" while we were there. She turned one 45 minute scheduled ultrasound into an hour and a half thanks to her wiggling one time. That is where she initially got the nickname. Women would always comment that they never remembered their kids wiggling as much as mine when they were pregnant. Today, the comments I hear the most from people about Alana is that she is pretty, that she's got so much hair, that she is very alert, and that "my goodness, she wiggles a lot". And she does. She has never been a cuddler. Unless she is asleep, you can't even get her to put her head down on you. Sad, I know. Now, my question is, did I do something that made her this way? Or is it just some part of her genetic personality that was going to happen no matter what? I like it when babies cuddle, so maybe next time, if there is anything I can do differently.... Even when she first wakes up-she's wiggling. Sometimes I'm afraid people who've never held her before won't expect it, and she'll end up falling. It's so funny, because even though I still swaddle her, and she sleeps in one of those sleep positioners she still usually ends up horizontal at the bottom of her crib in the morning. She even wiggles in her sleep! Speaking of sleeping, she is now going through what I hope is a phase, and fighting me when I try to put her down for naps or for the night, and usually I have to put her down four or five times before she actually stays down. I was already thinking that it may be time to put her on rice cereal because my milk supply can't keep up with her now that I'm back at work, but the sleep thing is kind of pushing me over the edge. They say 4-6 months. She's 4 months now. So, I guess the question is, why would you wait until 6 months? Is it just because of the mess? Does something happen? Can it affect their health or anything? I just don't know, so I'm asking so I can make an informed decision. Anyways, again, I need to go to bed.. The only time I get the chance to post seems to be before I go to bed, and after she does on the weekends. Here's a picture "wiggles" sleeping, and one of her playing.

The funny things we do...

2006-03-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

I came to a realization today about just how funny parents will act to appease their children. For instance; our condo is an older building, and the upstairs is full of old creaky boards. Since both our room and Alana's room are upstairs, you have to avoid stepping on the creaky boards in order to not wake Alana. This requires what I like to call "the hallway dance". A tiptoe here, a twirl here, and a little hop at the end is what you have to do to get out of her room and down the hallway without waking her with a loud creak after you've put her down. You must do this again if you have to pass her room again at any given point in time at night. I realized what I was doing with this routine the other night and it struck me as funny how anyone looking in would think my little dance ridiculous. Or, how, when in public, such as at the grocery store, your child is getting restless, so you break into her favorite song to keep her entertained. No matter how many people look at you funny you just keep on singing, just so she'll smile. Not one to sing in public myself, this can be really embarrassing. But, you do it, for her. What is it about having kids that suddenly makes this all acceptable? And, what's with all the high pitched voices whenever one talks to an infant? I just think it's interesting how much people can act like complete idiots around kids and not even realize their doing it, until one day of enlightenment, like I just had, and then, still not even care..Anyways I have to go to bed, but here's another picture of the baby that makes me act silly, and one of her and her daddy being silly together.

I'm back

2006-03-04T10:55:00.000-08:00

So, now that I've got some recovery sleep after going back to work, I'm getting back into my routines. Alana is catching on well, and slept through the night almost every night this week. It was refreshing considering last week was so hard. With the way she was sleeping, combined with going back to work, it felt like that first month again. But now she's got it figured out, and I feel like I might actually be able to handle this. My house is suffering though. I'm still making dinner every night, but not necessarily doing the dishes every night. So, I've had the nasty pile a couple times this week. And my laundry is out of control. I used to do a load every day. Now it's piling up. I just really don't have the time during the week. I literally get home, make dinner, eat, feed her, give her a bath, put her to bed, shower, and go to bed myself. Sometimes I don't even have time for the bathing part. I just don't know how to fit it in. So this weekend is going to be devoted to cleaning house. I wish that wasn't the case so I could relax a little, but maybe when I get the routine going I'll have more time for maintenance cleaning. My sister got me a bumper sticker that says: ""You don't work "full time" 'til your a Mom."" It's really true. Now that I'm doing both I have to multitask in everything pretty much all day long. Even now I'm holding Alana and typing at the same time. It helps that she's almost sitting now. The weird thing is that I really don't mind that things seem so out of control. She's so worth every minute of it, I feel blessed. My family is such a big help. Not that I find the woman a role model at all, but Hillary Clinton's "It takes a village" saying makes more sense to me now. Anyways, I'm rambling now, and I need to get started on that afore mentioned housework. Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm surviving. And work is going well, I can tell they missed me, and appreciate me, so that helps, even though I would rather be with my baby. Here are some cute new pics of Miss Alana Jo. Even though I usually don't like outfits with "ears" I think she pulls it off well. Don't you?

The beginning of the end

2006-02-19T10:22:00.000-08:00

So the day I have been praying would never come is here. Tomorrow I go back to work. I knew it was coming, I've just been in denial. Anyways, I don't want to talk about it, so just letting everyone know that my posts will probably be even more infrequent then they have been lately. Here are some pics of Alana's new hairdo. I've given up on keeping it down.

Happy Valentines!

2006-02-14T12:20:00.000-08:00

It's amazing sometimes how you can feel so busy when really you have nothing actually going on. I've been meaning to post for days now. My husband had to work last night and tonight, so we celebrated Valentines on Friday. He took me up to Seattle for the Ballet, and then got us a hotel room. Alana stayed with my mom so it was our first night without her. The whole night was incredible, but I woke up missing Alana the next day and couldn't wait to get home. If anyone ever gets the chance to go to Seattle around Valentines I would really recommend the PacNW ballet. The very last scene was a dance to nine different Sinatra songs, and as most know, I love Frank. They had it set up to look like it was a prom, each song a different couple, and then they all got together for the grand finale- "My Way". It was really cool! I also got my first cab ride. It wasn't nearly as stinky or scary as I thought it would be. Our hotel room was beautiful, and we had a sixth floor view. Soooo much fun! Alana was good for Grandma too, so there was no guilt when we got back. Well, Alana's fussing because she has the hiccups, I should get going, but I hope everyone has a great Valentines day-let me know how it goes! Here's some pictures of the view from our room, and one of the inside.

I'm not gonna talk about the game

2006-02-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

I decided to not post about the Superbowl, I'm still too mad about it, and I could just go on and on about it. The Seahawks are still winners to me, and there is always next year. That is why I waited until now, it was still too fresh on my mind before. Alana has officially outgrown her first newborn outfit. It has gone in the bag with all her outgrown premie clothes. She's at an awkward stage where most of the 0-3 month outfits are still huge on her, but all her newborn clothes are getting tight. So, I hope she has a little spurt in between or she won't have very many clothes for a while. She is so cute, she's turning into a couch potato. I caught her with her daddy watching sports center the other night. I left the room and came back five minutes later to find them both passed out. She loves watching the TV, and listening to music. She coos differently to the music when there is a different "instrument" playing on her Baby Einstein CD. I need to get my hands on the videos for her. My cousin is supposed to have the whole box set of them that she is willing to give Alana, so that will be really nice for her to have. Here's another picture of my cutie pie watching TV.

Encore!

2006-02-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

Maybe this wasn't a big fluke after all! I fed Alana at around 10:30 last night, and put her down a little after 11:00. She slept until 8:00 this morning, at which time daddy went and got her. Mommy was able to sleep until 11:00, so minus pump time, and figuring that I didn't get to bed until almost midnight, I got around 10 hours of sleep!!! 10!!! And she's right on track for her naps today! I know this could all change for the worse tomorrow, but it sure was nice for now! Alana took her first bath with Mommy last night. It was so funny to see her reaction to being immersed in water! Once she got used to it she started splashing her legs and her arms like she wanted to swim. It was so cute. She didn't like getting out though. Too cold I think. You'd think someone pinched her the way she acted! Here is a older picture of my new power sleeper and her daddy. It's one of my favorites.

God's little blessings

2006-02-02T18:59:00.000-08:00

I went to my work yesterday to show Alana off, that was fun. It was nice to see everybody, even though almost everyone who worked there when I was pregnant is no longer with the department. There is maybe only 20% of the same people who were there when I started left. Everyone I hung out with at lunch and breaks are gone. :( While I was there my boss gave me my raise. It's a pretty big one, and it was prorated since I was a new hire, so my first paycheck back will have an extra $700 in it! This will be really nice coming off of having no income from me in 4 months! Last night when I went to bed I tossed and turned for an hour because the realization of me going back to work hit me. I thought for sure I would pay the price for it in the morning, but instead I got another pleasant surprise. Alana went eight hours between feedings, allowing me 61/2 hours of solid sleep!!! The longest she had ever gone before that was seven hours, so this was a huge feat! Especially after how rough it's been lately with her. You got to love the little blessings in life. :0) Here are some cute bathtime pictures of Alana.

Another meme thingy

2006-01-31T08:46:00.000-08:00

This one's courtesy of Von :)
What were you doing 10 years ago?
Let's see- I was thirteen going on fourteen. So I was still homeschooled, and just really getting involved with my youth group.

Five snacks you enjoy:
1. Any kind of fresh fruit (except bananas)
2. Peanut M&M's
3. Soft pretzels
4. Chips and salsa
5. Is ice cream a snack?

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics off your head right now.
1. Amazing grace-and all the verses too!
2. Dancing cheek to cheek (Fred Astaire/Frank Sinatra)
3. Fly me to the Moon (Frank again)
4. At last (Ella Fitzgerald/Etta James)
5. Fell in love with a boy (Joss Stone)

Five things you would do if you had one million dollars:
1. Pay off debt
2. Build a house
3. Put my kids thru college
4. Take a romantic trip to Italy with just my hubby
5. Take a trip to Hawaii with the entire family

Five bad habits:
1. Procrastination
2. Picking my nose (J/K)
3. Not keeping up with my laundry (it gets done, it just sits folded on my kitchen table)
4. Not exercising enough
5. Letting my daughter sleep in my arms during the day so she won't wake up.

Five things you like doing:
1. Reading
2. Taking pictures of Alana
3. Watching TV/movies
4. Going on dates with hubby
5. Singing in the shower

Five things you would never buy, wear or get new again:
1. Probably a two piece bathing suit (stupid stretch marks!)
2. Cheap diapers
3. Cute shoes that are a half size too tight, but they don't have them in my size, but think will work. They won't.
4. A pet reptile, bird, or rodent
5. A movie I haven't watched first

Five favorite toys:
1.Digital camera
2. Computer
3. camcorder
4.The chronicles of Narnia Series
5. My daughter- I get to dress her up like a dolly

Okay-so I copied some of Von's answers- but she had some good ones!!! Here's some more Alana dedication pictures!

Alana's Dedication

2006-01-29T19:14:00.000-08:00

Alana was dedicated today at my parent's church. We dressed her in the dress that my sisters and I wore when we were dedicated. She looked so precious. Alana got her very first New Testatment from the pastor, and of course, it was pink. It was very sweet of him. I haven't uploaded my pics yet, but here are some, thanks to my mom, of Alana and the dedication. My parents took us to El Sarape (my favorite Mexican restaurant) after church, and that was a real treat too. For the first time since Alana was born neither she nor I have any appointments this week, all week long. So, I think I'm going to take it easy, and try really hard to not make any appointments this week. That will be a really nice change if I'm actually able to get away with it!

Stupid shots anyways

2006-01-27T12:20:00.000-08:00

Alana go there first series of shots yesterday. Poor thing, she was fine until I woke her up to eat an give her more tylenol. Then she just screamed for about an hour. Her poor little legs were bright red, so I felt the need to call the consulting nurse. She, of course, said that this was all normal after getting immunized, but I had never heard Alana cry like that, and it was scary. I cried most of the time too. I've never felt so helpless. I hope this pain thing gets easier, because if it doesn't I might die of a heart attack before she turns ten. My poor husband woke up to help and only ended up getting two hours of sleep last night before going to work. I felt so bad for both of them. Other then the stupid shots though, she had a good check up. She's doing great developmentally and everything. I asked the doctor about the suspected peanut allergy- she said that it sounds like that is what it could be. She suggested that since breastfed babies rarely have severe allergic reactions through the milk, I try having peanuts again and see if she has a reaction. Either way, she said not to let her have peanuts herself until she is past the age of three. This way if she isn't allergic she won't develop an allergy since she is showing signs of having allergic tendencies. If she is allergic it might go away by age three, and we won't have to worry about it at that point. She said this could especially happen with an early allergy since I am breastfeeding. They don't like to send babies to allergists to get tested since all the bloodwork and stuff can be so traumatic. She said this is the easier way to go. I have yet to work up the guts to eat peanuts with her though. Maybe later, I'll procrastinate on this one. Here's a picture of my little family that got left behind when I switched over to blogger from the first blog.

Back to square one

2006-01-25T17:10:00.000-08:00

Well, the situation on the Alana sleep front has gotten worse. The past two nights she wanted to eat every two hours, and was wide awake between feedings. Even when she was a newborn she would let me go 2 1/2-3 hours between feedings. She will not stand for having the light turned off, and she spent most of the night "talking" to her bedding, and the quilt on her wall. Of course, she's going 4-5 hours between feedings during the day. Tonight I'm going to try to force her to cluster feed earlier, like in the next hour, and see if we can't at least shift her sleep patterns around a couple hours. The only problem is that it's almost impossible to force Alana to do anything. She's very strongwilled, and will lock her jaw shut if she's done eating/doesn't want to eat. At least Alana has her pediatrician appointment tomorrow, maybe she will have some advice for me. I do have some good news though! I went down to sign up for WIC yesterday, and they are going to give me an electric pump to use when I go back to work so that it will be easier to continue breastfeeding. The main reason I went down there was because I thought they might be able to help with the cost of renting one, I never thought they would just let me borrow one! And they measured and weighed Alana yesterday- She is now 9lbs 7oz, and 21 1/4 inches! She was in the 5th percentile for her height and weight when she was born, and now she is in the 10th percentile! It's weird to think that she is considered to be so little for her age because she seems to be so big to me.

Meme of Fours

2006-01-24T18:38:00.000-08:00

Okay, me too! I had to try it too!

Four jobs I've had in my life:
1: Imaging Operator at State Farm Insurance Company
2: Cocktail waitress
3: Barista
4: Member Service/VISA officer at Credit Union

Four movies I could watch over and over again:
1: Sleepless in Seattle
2: Pretty Woman
3: Cinderella
4: Any Christmas movie

Four places I have lived:
1: Olympia, WA
2: Pullman, WA
3: Boise, ID
4: I'm all out!

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1: 24
2: American Idol
3: Friends
4: Anything on the discovery channel/TLC

Four places I have been on vacation:
1: Reno, NV
2: Disneyland
3: TJ/San Diego on Missions Trip
4: Oregon coast a lot

Four Websites I visit daily:
1: Other Blogs
2: Earthlink news
3: Baby Center
4: Everything else I visit I just check periodically

Four of my favorite foods:
1: Chocolate
2: Ice cream
3: Prime rib from the Outback
4: Chicken Parmigana

Four albums I can't live without:
1: Ray Charles greatest hits
2: Goodnight Wolfgang- classical lulabies
3: Everything else I can live without-I just listen to my favorites on the radio

Four places I'd rather be:
1: Bed!!!
2: The bathtub-with bubbles and a glass of wine
3: Anyplace with some sun
4: Someday, Italy! No kids allowed though!

Food allergy woes

2006-01-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

Ever since Alana was born she's had a chronic stuffy nose, and a persistent rash that both come and go with what seems like no warning at all. At first everyone told me that newborns usually have pretty stuffy noses, and that rashes and acne are very common. So, I tried to ignore it until her nose got really bad when she was about a month old. I took her to the Pediatrician, and she said that it was just a runny nose, and to keep it clean, she was fine. So I thought, "Fine, I'll just keep an eye on it." It would come and go, and was always associated with a facial rash that would get really bad sometimes. Then I got to thinking about a little boy I used to babysit who would get horrible sinus infections and facial rashes. They eventually figured out that he was allergic to wheat. They cut the wheat out of his diet, and he was fine. So maybe she was allergic to wheat. But I thought back through the week, when she had been perfectly clear, and realized that I had wheat in my sandwich bread, so that probably wasn't it. My husband picked up McDonald's for dinner that night and Alana broke out again, and her nose was horrible. I realized that as I was getting the hang of this mommy thing I had started cooking a lot again, and we weren't eating fast food as much anymore. Also, I had tried to cut back on my guilty pleasure, peanut M&M's in hopes of losing some weight. So, I asked my sister if they cooked any of the food at McDonald in peanut oil, and apparently all of their fried food is cooked in peanut oil. For the last two weeks I have avoided peanuts like the plague and she hasn't had a runny nose or rash. Looks like I have a peanut allergy on my hands. Yeah. Hopefully I can find out for sure this week at her doctor appointment. It just makes my sad, because that means no french fries or peanut M&M's until she gets weaned for me. Oh, well, maybe I'll loose the weight faster this way. It's also really scary, because I have heard so many horror stories about peanut allergies, and how they are so deadly, the worst food allergy you could have, etc. Plus, peanuts are in so many foods secretly, I fear it's going to be worse then my coconut allergy when it comes to trial and error. I just wish I knew more about what foods contain peanuts and stuff. Does anyone have any advice for me? Are there any websites I can go to? Does anyone know what the Doctor has to do to confirm a food allergy? Above is a picture of her rash face, it's kind of hard to see because of the lighting.

Seahawks win!!!!

2006-01-22T19:42:00.000-08:00

The Seahawks are superbowl bound for the first time ever! My husband, who has been a diehard fan since he was little, finally has a winning team! He thinks that Alana being born, and having her around to help root them on has been their good luck charm. Supposedly that's why they're going to the superbowl. Superstitious as it is, maybe he's right, 'cuz he's been saying that since the begining of the season. Regardless if you think that this fan has anything to do with the Seahawks winning, you got to admit that she's got to be one of the cutest fans ever.

Go seahawks!

2006-01-22T16:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of my daughter showing her Seattle spirit for the big game! Alana says: "Yeah hawks!"

My mother is a genius!

2006-01-22T15:30:00.000-08:00

So, my biggest complaint with breastfeeding so far has been not so much been the actual job of breastfeeding- but the nursing bras and nursing pads! They make it nearly impossible to comfortably sleep! The other day I found a nursing camisole that was alot more comfortable then the nursing bra I was trying to sleep in, so my last thing to conquer to achieve a more comfortable sleep was the dreaded pads. All night long I chase those stupid things around so they sit right, and still I wake up wet or chafed over half the time. After discussing this with my mother, she sugested that I cut a diaper in half and use that instead. So, I tried it! And it works! I woke up dry and not chafed, and I didn't spend the whole night chasing them. They really are more absorbant then nursing pads, it's pretty amazing. They also work out to be a cheaper selection as well. I'll continue to wear the nursing pads during the day though, diapers are just a bit too bulky to wear in public, I think. Anyways, here's a picture of my genius mother, and my beautiful daughter!

So many "what if's" and "could be's"

2006-01-21T19:56:00.000-08:00

If there is one thing I am realizing as a new mom it is that there is nothing about parenting that is set in stone. Every child is different, and every parent reacts differently to different situations. While I know this is true, I think that listening to other people's opinions helps to educate me to make the best decision for me and my daughter. That being said here is my first question/situation: My daughter is two months old, and for the last month and a half, my daughter has been sleeping in her own room. It took a little work to get her there, but it was going pretty well. She had even worked up to about 7 hours between feedings, and that allowed me about 5 hours of solid sleep a night. That was until about a week ago. First it started with her just suddenly waking up, and screaming like she was in extreme pain. I would run into her room, pick her up, and she would go from screaming and being stiff as a board, to sleeping and limp in less then a second. Every time this happened I thought it was extremely weird, but I would just put her back to bed and go back to sleep. Then three nights ago, she started screaming and wouldn't stop untill I was holding her. Every time I thought she was asleep and put her down she would wake up and start screaming again. I finally had to bring her to bed with me so I could get some sleep. The night before last the same thing happened, but my husband was home (he works nights), so he took her, but still, she screamed until she was back with mom. So last night, I left the light on in her room so that maybe she would think she was just napping downstairs where mom is, like she does during the day. She didn't wake up screaming once. However she woke up to eat every three hours, just like she does during the day. It's like she's reverted back to her newborn sleeping schedule. Needless to say, I have no idea what to do. I don't know if she's scared, or just thinks she needs to be with me all the time. I have to go back to work in 3 1/2 weeks, so I'd like to figure this out before then so I can actually be somewhat rested at work. Anyone have any ideas?

My first entry..

2006-01-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

After becoming addicted to reading my mother's blog, I decided that maybe I would try my own. I'm not very good at keeping diaries or anything, so we'll see how this goes. I basically just realized that I call my mother an awful lot expecting her to know everything when it comes to raising a child. I call begging for her advice, looking for support, asking general questions, etc. While I know my mother loves me, and doesn't mind the frequent phone calls, I thought maybe I could give her at least a little bit of a break if I were to ask other people sometimes. Hence the blog. So like I said, we'll see how this goes.