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...

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

What goes down, sometimes comes back up!

We have not seen this happy face in a few days. Luckily Krystyna documented this rare occasion! Poor Daniel has been diagnosed with acid reflux. I saw this coming. He was getting more and more unhappy with each feeding. And his spitting up was becoming much more projectile. I was doing all I could to avoid medication but it was only getting worse. Dr. Sweet wasn’t available so we saw a family practice doctor in the office. He was very good and I’m thinking we may have found a doctor for Michael and I.

When they weighed him in I was astonished at the weight gain! He is weighing in at a hefty 13 lbs. 15 oz. They say that you can’t over feed with breast milk. I hope this is true.

I think I may have given birth to a future Dallas Cowboys linebacker!

Weekend Wrap-up

Well this weekend went much better than last. We celebrated another birthday but this time without a dog fight!

Friday night we went to Cleburne to meet up with a dear friend and her boyfriend. Elaine and Michael worked together at Cleburne Middle School two years ago. If it wasn't for the unexpected opening in Corsicana, he'd still be in Cleburne. When I met Elaine two years ago I thought she was a very goofy, crazy and larger than life person. More than I could handle! Now that I've gotten to know her I still think she is a goofy, crazy and larger than life person. But I'm so glad she's in my life! She absolutely fell in love with Daniel on Friday. I'm surprised she didn't try to smuggle him out.






Our Burrito Baby at the game.
It got a little too cold for him.










Saturday Daniel and I went up to the civic center for the Veteran's Day Celebration. My dad was performing. There were several great performers. Luckily Daniel waited to get fussy and fill his diaper just after my dad sang. But we left after our stinky dash to the bathroom. I thought I'd spare everyone Daniel's opinion on the whole program. Hopefully we didn't miss too much more. The music was inspiring but not as much as the pictures they showed and the tons of veterans from wars as far back as WWII. We owe these men and women more than we could ever repay.


Sunday after church we headed down to my mom's to celebrate Jennifer's birthday. She turned 26 on the third. We missed David and Natalie due to other obligations but had a great time anyway. If you notice the picture we had to improvise on the candle. I forgot to bring birthday candles so my mom found a scented votive to use instead. After we stuffed our face with cake and ice cream we played a board game called "Loaded Questions". I wish I could say I let the birthday girl win, but really she kicked butt!







Happy Birthday Aunt Jenn!

Halloween, Birthday Cake & Dog fight . . .

Baby Ninja Daniel

Daniel celebrated his first Halloween in Italy this year. Italy had their annual fall festival so we got dressed up and crashed the party! They had hot dogs and hamburgers. I ate Daniel's share. And lots of games to play. We won candy and treats at every game! I will admit that the only game we didn't cheat at was the Cake Walk. We won that play-doh and crayons fair and square.

We definitely cheated at this one! -----My baby can karate chop your baby!






Our. . . I mean Daniel's pumpkin was heavy!






On Saturday I experienced Costco! My mom, Jennifer, Krystyna and I went grocery shopping at Costco. We decided to get the bulk items and split them between us. Once we got home we split up everything in the middle of my living room. I wish I had taken pictures of the whole thing. I hadn't seen so much food in my house at one time! It was actually kind of fun. We are planning to do this again. Next time with a bigger vehicle or two.



Wake me up when we get there...zzzzzzzzzz







That night we celebrated Barrett's 26th birthday. Michael grilled up some turkey burgers and hot dogs for everyone. We had a good time sitting around talking and watching the football game. Don't ask me which one, I didn't really watch it.

Happy birthday Uncle Bear!



While cleaning up our mess from dinner I thought I'd check on my dogs out back. Frito was barking his "tattle-tale" bark that made me think something was going on. When I stepped outside I found my two bigger dogs, Daisy and Gretchen, in the throws of a major fight. This wasn't like all their other scuffles. These dogs meant business and nothing I could do would stop them. I yelled for Michael who was able to split them. The fight got so out of hand that Daisy was injured pretty badly. A patch of skin from her left front leg was torn and required a trip to the emergency vet in Mansfield. Sadly they didn't do much for her because they wanted way too much money up front. (My dogs are very special to me but I believe the vet was taking advantage of the situation.) So they wrapped Daisy up and gave us some meds to get by until Monday. Michael took her to the vet here in Waxahachie who was able to stitch her up for a tenth of the cost. She's doing much better and has a crazy little limp to get around. Hopefully in a few weeks she can go back outside and play nice with Gretchen.