6 months and counting!

Our baby turned 6 months on February 27th! Where has the time gone? His dedication went great. We had a small intimate group which is just how we had wanted it. All the people who love Daniel were there. And those who couldn't be were there in spirit and in our hearts. It was an eye opener for me to remember that Daniel doesn't really belong to me, but to God. He is truly His. And last weekend we let everyone know. I pray that God will give us the wisdom to raise him in a loving Christian home. And I pray that one day we will see him give his heart to God as we have given ours.

Daniel has been accomplishing so much in his little world. We've really been working and playing hard. And I know his teachers and friends at day care have really been a lot of help. Here is what he's doing right now.
- sitting up

- grabbing objects around him (The tv remote and telephone are popular choices.)
- putting everything in his mouth
- trying solid foods

- attempting to hold his own bottle and spoon
- rolling over and over and over
- scooting around on his belly, backwards (He started out on the blanket playing with his toys.)

- making one syallable sounds (ie. ma, da, ba, bla, pa)
- recognizes both of his names (He goes by James at school and Daniel everywhere else.)
- enjoys bath time (Especially chewing on his washcloth and drinking the bath water. Yuck!)

- LOVES playing in his bounce gym

- plays and sleeps by putting his blanket on his face (Don't worry folks. I constantly check on him and move his blanket once he's done playing and falls asleep. Scary and strange, believe me I know. But it soothes him somehow.)

I can't believe I have a 6 month old! It is just amazing all the changes that have taken place. I look forward to each new thing. All the firsts that we are seeing and will get to see. I'm cherishing them all. Because like we are constantly reminded by everyone . . . it'll be gone in a flash!

I can't think of a title! :o)

Well, it's been pretty busy around here. More so for Michael than anyone else! Michael is finally finished with the musical. He said it went very well and can't wait for next year. (I unfortunately missed the performance because I was struck suddenly with fever on Saturday night. The fever hung around Sunday too but finally broke early Monday morning.) Now Michael is headed to San Antonio for the remainder of the week for TMEA. The following weekend he will be in Waco for Solo & Ensemble. Then in March he goes to New York with his choir for their Spring Break trip. He is running around like a crazy man!

Plans are in action for Daniel's dedication on Feb. 28th. I will be mailing out invitations this week. If you get missed, consider this your invite! :o) I'm looking forward to the service. We're having it in Italy at the same church we were married. I thought it would be neat to do his dedication in the church we dedicated our lives to each other as man and wife. I know, I'm sappy!

Daniel is getting so big! He's trying very hard to sit up on his own but not quite succeeding. He can roll from his back to belly and back again when playing. But for some reason he can't figure out how to roll onto his back when in bed. He wakes me up around 1:00 every morning because he can't roll back over. I've had to just let him cry until he figures it out or gives up. His feet finally touch the floor in his bouncy toy so he can really get some air some times. He was so cute when he got himself turned around in it and discovered there were more toys behind him. He was so surprised that he had to take a double take. Last night I fed him some rice cereal for the first time. I was wanting to wait until six months but decided I'd just give it a try. I don't think he's convinced it was a good idea. We'll keep trying.

Not much else going on around here. Hope you enjoy the pictures! :o)

This is the cold that never ends...

... yes it goes on and on my friends!

We are well into week three of living in the sick house. Here's how we spent our January:


Friday, Jan. 2nd - Daniel starts daycare
Tuesday, Jan. 6th - Daniel turned over on his belly at daycare and I got to witness it! We were both very excited.
Friday, Jan. 9th - Daniel appears to have a runny nose and fussier than usual at bed time. Was that a sneeze I heard?
Saturday, Jan. 10th - Daniel has 103 temp! He seems very unhappy when I come near his ear with the thermometer. Mommy's gut says it's a cold with possible ear infection.
Monday, Jan. 12th - Daddy stays home and takes Daniel to Dr. Sweet. She diagnosed a head cold but ears are all clear.
Tuesday, Jan. 13th - Daniel still running fever throughout the night. Mommy stays home to nurse sick baby. He finally breaks fever late in the morning but then spikes again at bedtime.
Wednesday, Jan. 14th - Mommy takes Daniel back to daycare so she can go back to work. She feels very guilty but know it's the best she can do.
Thursday, Jan. 15th - Mommy wakes up stuffy
Saturday, Jan. 17th - Daniel seems to be bouncing back! Just a cough "to get up the last of the snot". Daddy and Mommy are taking turns napping and playing because they have shared Daniel's cold.
Wednesday, Jan. 21st - Mommy notices a crusty little ear on Daniel. "Whens the last time I cleaned your ears?"
Thursday, Jan. 22nd - Mommy picks up Daniel from daycare and notices his left ear is completely covered in a yellow, crusty material. Did you try baby food today without telling me? Mommy called doctor's office who suggested Daniel be seen.
Friday, Jan. 23rd - Daniel sees Dr. Moreland. He can't even see into his ear due to the ruptured eardrum and drainage. Apparently someones ear was infected this whole time! Why didn't I go with my gut? Again with the "Mommy Guilt". Ear drops worked great over the weekend! No antibiotics needed! Could this be the end?
Wednesday, Jan. 28th - Daniel seems to be doing so much better, besides that pesky cough! Why does Mommy feel like she's hearing underwater?
Friday, Jan. 30th - Mommy feels like she's been run over by a truck and someone is stabbing her in the ear!
Sunday, Feb. 1st - Daddy, Mommy and Daniel all wake up with low grade fevers, running nose, coughs, headaches, earaches...the list goes on!
Monday, Feb. 2nd - Daddy drags himself to work with barely a voice. Mommy and Daniel go see Dr. Moreland, AGAIN. Two prescriptions of antibiotics for the two of us please! Mommy has a "textbook ear infection". Daniel has an upper respiratory infection that better go away in 10 days or make another trip to the doctor.
Tuesday, Feb. 3rd - Daddy struggles getting out of bed because now it's his turn, again.

A little over dramatic? Maybe, but we're sick and tired of being sick and tired!

No more excuses...

I will try harder to keep up. It's been a very crazy month! I can't believe I let myself get so behind. Christmas and New Years was gone in a flash! I can't believe how fast it went by. We spent lots of time with family and friends. Daniel started daycare on January 2nd and seems to enjoy it. He's already learned how to share! He brought home cooties and gave them to us. For the past two weeks the three of us have been battling head colds and poor Daniel's busted ear drum. Well, I know the real reason you visit the blog is for pictures. ENJOY!
(If you haven't given up on us.)




This first slideshow is portraits we had done in November when Daniel was 3 months.

This is a slideshow of just a few pictures from the past month.

Can I play the "new mommy" card?

It has been brought to my attention, by several people, that my blog is lacking. So, I guess it's time for an update. Let's see...
I turned the big 3-0 this month! That's right I'm 30. Instead of crying about it I decided to torture my family and force them to go somewhere none of them have ever gone before. A sushi bar! I hadn't had sushi since before I got pregnant and I was ready to dive in again. Since I'm breastfeeding, I can't eat raw sushi yet so my mom volunteered to eat what I would have. She was very surprised at how much she enjoyed it. Jennifer, John and Natalie also tried it but I don't think they will be going back for it anytime soon. I had a great time even if everyone else was still hungry after we left. (The chicken teriyaki was the most popular dish at our table.)





Although Daniel hasn't mastered rolling over from his back, he is pushing himself off of his stomach onto his back. He's trying very hard to roll from his back. Sometimes I think he's almost got it figured out. But he gets very frustrated when he can't do it. It's actually quite funny to see him get so mad. Boy he has his Mommy's temper. Sorry world! Daniel has now transferred from his bassinet to his crib for a few weeks now. Please don't ridicule me for keeping my baby in my room for three months. I won't listen to you anyway! :o) He's been doing great and has slept through the night on two occasions. The first night he did it I woke up with a fear of finding...well, let's not go there. Anyway, he's been doing great and I don't want to jinx myself by bragging too much.

Michael has been very busy preparing for the high school musical he is putting together this year. It takes a lot of his time away from home so I know he is looking forward to his time off with Daniel. Michael is out of school as of Friday the 19th and will be watching Daniel until the new year. Two whole weeks with Daddy! Which brings me to wonderful Krystyna.

Since Krystyna will be going back to Navarro full-time in January she will no longer be able to watch Daniel for us. It makes us sad but we knew from the beginning this was only temporary. She was so great with him. I know he fell in love with her and she fell for him. (How can you not?!) My trust in her was strengthened everyday when I saw how comfortable he was with her. He would always greet her with a smile and lots of laughs first thing in the morning. (He doesn't do that for everyone.) My fear of putting a six week old in daycare was calmed by having Krystyna take care of him here at home. We'll still see her occasionally but we'll miss her just the same!
I'm not nervous about taking a four month old to daycare. I really feel like daycare is going to be a good deal for him. Especially the daycare we've chosen. It's literally right across the street from where I work and is one of the best organizations I've ever seen. The daycare may get tired of us pretty quick though. I plan on visiting quite often! (One down fall of being so close to work: I won't want to go to work!)

Well, that basically sums it up. It's really been pretty uneventful, which is really the only excuse I have for not updating the blog. I will try to be better about it. Can I just play the "new mommy" card this time?

Fave Foto Friday

Daniel is not happy that today was Krystyna's last day.

We love you Krystyna.

Thanksgiving Weekend Wrap-up

I'm really tired and don't know really what to type tonight so I'll just post some pictures.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving and hope everyone else did too!

No more tongue tie

Today Michael and my mom brought Daniel up to the office for a visit and to have his tongue clipped. That sounds very strange to some of you, I know. But it was something that needed to be done before he got any older to prevent any future problems. Daniel was very tongue tied and couldn't stick his tongue out past his gums. It was a very simple procedure that was done in the office by one of the wonderful doctors I work for. Now Daniel can stick his tongue out all the way. Dr. Black told him to be careful in the future and to not let me catch him sticking his tongue at me. :o) Thank you Dr. Black and Irene!





If you look closely you can see how the lingual frenulum is at the very tip of his tongue.



I wasn't able to get an after picture at the office because he was very mad. I'll try tomorrow.






"Doctor in Training"

Gran bought these scrubs in the hospital gift shop because somebody's diaper leaked!











Playing and talking before the procedure.
There were a couple of times he almost rolled over!

OPEN WIDE!

First day alone

Today is Michael's first day alone with Daniel.

I'm sure he'll do just fine.

Daddy knows what to do.

But this site made it so hard for me to leave this morning.

Weekend wrap-up (a little late)

Friday night we went to our Sunday School party. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. It was fajitas and game night. To be honest it's been a while since we've been to Sunday school so there were several people there we didn't know. We still enjoyed ourselves on some delicious food. Afterwards everyone split up into several groups and played lots of different games. The group we were started out just visiting and catching up then someone broke out "Uno Attack". This is a fun twist on the classic card game. I think Santa might be bringing this our way! :o)

Saturday was very busy! Michael had a choir garage sale in Corsicana to raise money for their spring trip. Then we had some pictures done at our house again to get some pictures of our new family. She got some great pictures of the three of us and then pictures of just Daniel. I wish I had some sneak peeks to share. The photographer was absolutely wonderful and so patient! Daniel got a little fussy at one point and needed a bottle. She waited patiently and chatted while he ate and got into a better mood. I can't wait to see how they all came out. Below are some of the maternity pictures she did the first part of August. Those aren't even half of them!

Later that evening Michael and I had date night for the first time since Daniel has arrived. David and Natalie had offered to watch Daniel awhile back so we decided to take them up on it. It was nice to get out just the two of us.

I will admit though that I begged Michael to call once in the beginning of the evening. He obliged and then we enjoyed the rest of the night. Michael got us tickets to a community production of "Guys and Dolls" in Corsicana. The show was great! It's been a long time since we've gone to any live productions like that. We used to do it a lot when we were dating and first married while Michael was still at SHSU. Thank you David and Natalie for the much needed break!

Well, that sums up our weekend. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Fave Foto Friday

Weekend Wrap-up

Absolutely nothing exciting happened this weekend.
Saturday Michael was in Waco for a region clinic and concert. My mom came over to watch Daniel while I took Daisy to the vet. Daisy is doing great and is back outside with Gretchen. She still has a funny limp that I think will be around for a little while. Otherwise she's good.
Sunday was church, naps and playtime. That's a pretty typical Sunday around here. Here are some pictures!

Fave Foto Friday

I'm stealing this idea from another blog I read.

Every Friday I will post a favorite picture.

There are so many to chose from. Hope you enjoy!

He looks so much like...

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