January 15 - Replacing Kanga and Her "Life Partner"

Well, if you know me, or my mother, you know how much we enjoy shopping on eBay. Early this week we had ordered a couple of things for Alaina and they both came today! Hooray!! I love to get things in the mail! The first thing to come was a set of kangaroos to go with Alaina’s Fisher Price Ark. My mom had tried to order Alaina a set of kangaroos prior to this set and she received the set on the right in the picture above. See anything wrong with this set of kangaroos? Like, oh, I don’t know, perhaps the fact they both have pink bows? They both have a baby? They are both GIRLS? Now, without offending anyone who might be reading this, there is a problem with these ladies joining my ark. You see, Noah collected animals two by two, one of each gender, for a reason. So that after the earth flooded, they could repopulate. Unfortunately for “Kanga” and her life partner, they don’t have the ability to do this. (I’m not sure how they got those Joey’s in their pouches – perhaps they adopted?) My main issue with this is having to eventually explain this to my daughter at what I know will be far too early of an age why both of the Kangaroos are girls. Kids are very perceptive as you know and I am not quite ready to go out and buy the book “Heather has Two Mommies.” (I could probably write the book “My Joey has Two Mommies” Ha ha! Get it?!?) Anyway – don’t you ever remember questioning things like this when you were young? Keeping on the subject of Kangaroos – did you ever wonder while watching Winnie the Pooh where Roo’s father was? I mean, Kanga was a perfectly good mother to Roo, but seriously…are we to believe Roo was a product of immaculate conception? I think not. These are the questions I wish to avoid for as long as possible. Therefore, here came the new set of Kangaroos, one of each gender, for the ark.
The second thing that came was a set of peek-a-boo blocks that I had wanted for Alaina before she was born, didn’t buy, they quit making them, and the price jumped through the roof on eBay. I got a set of gently used ones for a pretty decent price so, I was happy with that. So, I had these big dreams of setting up this nice pyramid of the blocks and photographing Alaina with them for the blog. Well, you know kids, and you know what happens with the best of intentions. I set them up the first time and my cat ran behind them and knocked the whole thing over. I move the blanket where it wouldn’t get bumped and set it up again. Now Alaina wasn’t really interested in cooperating. This is the best picture I could get of her trying to look at them (and Duncan walked through)…

So I tried to sit Alaina up and before I got one picture she threw a fit and knocked all the blocks down…as seen here.

By now I was tired of the stupid pyramid so I just laid her down amongst the remnants of my beautiful pyramid. Probably the best one…

So yeah – those are the highlights of the day. I went back to work today and Alaina went to daycare and we are very excited that Daddy is FINALLY coming home from Phoenix TONIGHT!! Hooray Daddy! We missed you!

On a side note I won’t be posting Friday and Saturdays blogs until Sunday as my only internet access will be dial-up and I just can’t deal with that. Ha ha! See ya Sunday!

January 14 - Jesus Juice

I have mentioned in a blog prior to this that I have no idea what I would do without Alaina's swing. Sometimes it is the only way I can get her to go to sleep! Last night around 9:30 I put her in it to swing for awhile so I could get my blog uploaded and then I was hoping to get her to sleep for the night because my head was killing me and my stomach was still upset. Unfortunately, not too long after I put her in, she became a little fussy so I decided to turn on her music and make the lambs spin for her to keep her entertained. Oh no... the batteries were dying. I decided to let the lambs just hang there and just play the music for awhile and thankfully that worked, but, she went to sleep. By now it is after 10:00 and I am ready to just lie down and sleep. Do I risk moving her and waking her up?? I decided that sleeping on the couch was fine with me, as long as I could sleep. But what about the batteries?? There is no way they would last all night and I didn't have any more to put in. I decided to say a prayer for the batteries. "Lord, you know how much I need to sleep because of this headache. If you can just let these batteries last a little longer, I would be so happy." I fell asleep without much hesitation and the next thing I know my alarm is going off at 5 a.m. and Alaina is still happily swinging, sound asleep. Hooray for the Jesus juice in my batteries! The Lord listens to even the smallest of requests...
Even with all the sleep, I still stayed home from work today with a bad headache. It was bad enough this morning I didn't even feel like taking Alaina to daycare so she stayed home with me. We had some mommy and baby cuddle time. Finally, this evening, my headache began to break and I was able to get a few things done. Thank you Lord! I should be able to go to work tomorrow. Well, time to give Alaina a bath! Everyone stay warm! It is FREEZING outside!

January 13 - Life Lessons = A Margarine Bowl

Odd picture for the day. Truth is I have felt horrible all day. I got up this morning and I knew something was up. My stomach was upset. I felt sluggish. But, I thought maybe I just had a little drainage during the night or something. It should go away. I got myself and Alaina all ready for the day. The drive was MUCH better today. However, the nauseous feeling hung on. I got to work and made it to my desk but had to sit there for about 10 minutes telling myself I wasn't going to be sick. My friend Jen came over and asked if I wanted to go downstairs for breakfast. I knew I didn't want to eat but decided I would get some sprite and maybe some crackers to get something in my stomach. It seemed to help a little. I felt better. Then the nausea came back around. Ugh. The waves started coming faster each time and I figured I was probably going to be in trouble if I didn't go home, plus, my head had started to pound. I left work and headed home. (On the way I stopped to pick up a new pair of windshield wipers - ha ha!) I decided to leave Alaina at daycare so I could sleep and hopefully feel better. So, that is what I did. Went home and went to sleep. But first, I had to retrieve the two things my mom always taught me someone with an upset stomach needs. #1 7-up and #2 a margarine bowl. A margarine bowl you say? Or maybe your mom did this too, I don't know. Some mom's give their kids garbage bags/a can or maybe a Wal-Mart sack. At our house, we got a margarine bowl (occasionally cool whip). I am not sure when this originated, all I know is when you got an upset stomach, those were the two things you got. I remember keeping a margarine bowl permanently in my bed after a certain incident... Ashley and I started sharing a room and we got bunk beds. They were the cool bunk beds where the bottom bunk stuck out from underneath the top bunk. We loved them and of course since I was the oldest I got the top bunk and Ashley was on the bottom. This worked out great but one night I awoke feeling a little queasy and sleepily just hung my head over the side of the bed. Needless to say without much detail, Ashley got a bath in the middle of the night and so did our bedding. After that, the margarine bowl became a permanent fixture in my bunk, and came in handy a few times after that. I am sure my dad wishes I would have had the margarine bowl the time we were coming home from visiting Ashley at the hospital. I told him I didn't feel well and he asked if I could make it out of town. I said "I'll try." I tried, I really did, but, I didn't make it out of town. I got myself, Chad, the pocket in the door, the vents on the dash and, worst of all, my open back-pack. My poor poor dad. Sitting up that night unloading my back pack on a garbage bag and trying to salvage whatever he could, let alone, his truck. He couldn't turn on the air for awhile...

My mom almost ran out of margarine bowls one time when all three of us got the flu within a few hours of each other. Isn't it funny the things you remember from your childhood and the things you carry on to your own families? Ever since I got married, I have saved my margarine bowls. Rinsed them and sent them through the dishwasher and stored them under the sink. So, today, when I needed one "just in case," it was there.

I am still feeling pretty tough tonight and I am not sure yet if I will be making the trek to work tomorrow. I probably won't know until the morning. Thankfully, Alaina has been very good this evening. I hope it continues through the night so mommy can sleep. Hopefully, I can sleep well and the nausea will go away, but if it doesn't, at least I have my trusty margarine bowl close by!

January 12 - "Oh the weather outside is frightfull...I hate snow! I hate snow! I hate snow!"

Ugh. I hate winter. If it weren’t for my family I would be living somewhere warm and snow free! Maybe some palm trees or cactus hanging around… But no, I am here in the Midwest. The land of crazy weather.
Today I woke up to snow on the ground. No big deal, it’s winter in Nebraska. I thought I started my day off in plenty of time. Got Alaina all packed up and ready for daycare which is outside of my routine because Teddy normally does this, but, we managed. I even remembered to write out the check! So we set off toward daycare and that leg of the trip went fine. I arrived exactly when I had planned, took her in and got her settled and then left to go to work. Apparently sometime, in those few precious minutes, everything went to heck outside. The snow kicked up again and people turned into 80 year old women drivers. We were going about 15 mph tops. At this time, I notice that Teddy has left my SUV with no gas in it. So I have to take a side street over the nearest gas station I know of to get gas. This short trip takes almost 20 minutes… I am going to be late and I am getting a little irritated. I get the gas and jump back in my car to take advantage of a picture opportunity for my blog. (See above...the snow didn't photograph that well...) At this time…I had no idea how much I was going to have to write about. So off I set again. Traffic seems to be a little better until I get to the main road. Holy backed up cars batman!! I was lucky to get on from the ramp. We creeped along at 10 mph most of the time and at other times were at a complete standstill. I never saw an accident so who knows what was wrong. All of a sudden, in the middle of my irritation, my passenger side windshield wiper just goes nuts – it flips over and makes this horrible noise and proceeds to not do it’s job and wipe my windshield! It’s broke. UGH! On top of all that, Teddy calls. “Hey, can you believe it is already 65 degrees here? How is your morning?” Have you ever wished you could reach your arm halfway across the country and just strangle someone?! Yeah, you know that feeling. The drive was horrible. I was 45 minutes late to work with a half clean windshield and I was so relieved to get there. I tried to fix the windshield wiper, to no avail. Work itself was not that bad today. I was busy and the day went by quickly. I had to work my lunch to make up time for being late so I could still leave on time at 4:00, but, that was even ok. End of the day comes and I am headed for the door. I get to my car and realize I hadn’t bothered to look outside and it is snowing AGAIN. Double Ugh! Well, I have to pick up Alaina and I have to go home. I have no choice but to set out. So off I go. At first it isn’t too bad. About like it is on a normal snowy day – people going slow and being careful. I maneuver my way in to the lane I will need eventually. Wow. This isn’t so bad. Then, the wind comes. 55+mph winds. White out conditions. We are barely moving. (Note in this picture you can see my broken wiper as well - hooray - no mom I was not driving when I took this picture!)
I think I could have ran home faster then we were driving. Creeping…creeping…creeping… At first I am being very nice. If a car is trying to turn on to the street, I let them in. I always think about that Collin Raye song “What if Jesus Came Back Like That.” I don’t know if you listen to country but way back when it first came out it made me think about everything I said or did to another person, stranger or not. I still think about that. If I am letting in car in I am thinking, hey, you never know, it could be. It is basically just the idea that you need to be nice to people. Well…by the time I am in traffic for over an hour I am apologizing to Jesus for telling him he is on his own. Now, something I should have mentioned before. I am a very patient person in most circumstances, however, driving is NOT one of those circumstances. I mean, it isn’t to the point that I am dangerous by any means. Mostly, I just yell at people in other cars…who cannot hear me. This, is why I should not live where it snows. So now I am yelling at people, and then praying because I feel bad for yelling, because, you know, what if? As I wait my mind wonders, would Jesus even drive a car? If he did, what kind of car would he drive? If he is in the Midwest he better have an SUV. I am glad I have an SUV… Wow, my car has a lot of miles! I need a new SUV. How long till Teddy’s car is paid off? Maybe we can put our tax return on bills. I wonder when my W2 comes? W2? How did my mind get here? Okay seriously – boredom induces thoughts like this which we call rabbit trails. Sit there and try to trace one back sometime. It is HARD. One time I got from tomato soup to Cruella Devil in like three minutes. Try it. It’s like playing the Kevin Bacon game. More creeping… Windshield wiper still broken. I finally got to the daycare an hour late and by the time I left there and got home I had been on the road for an hour and 45 minutes. I am never driving again…until tomorrow.

January 11 - I am Blessed

Today was a very fun and rewarding day with Alaina, but, also kind of sad for mommy as today was the day mommy officially packed up the newborn clothes that no longer fit. Of course, being me, I had to commemorate the event with pictures of the clothes and close ups of each outfit.
The outfit on the right is the jean jumper Alaina wore when we brought her home the 2nd weekend after she was born to meet both the Hunerdosse and Durfey sides of the family. She was so cute with her bow in her hair and the tights that weren't "tight" on a single inch of her little chicken legs.
The next outfit is the "Somebunny Loves Me" outfit from Aunt Ashley that Alaina wore for her pictures at the hospital and multiple times after she was born. Ashley also bought Alaina her first 'bunny bunny' along with this outfit. I remember taking pics at the hospital of her in the outfit with the bunny and the bunny was almost as big as Alaina!!
Following that is the "I'll always be daddy's little girl" outfit that I bought at Carter's outlet when I was still pregnant. I knew that daddy would really like that one, and he did.
Then comes her princess outfit that I thought was really cute. She wore this on her first visit to daycare.
The Teddy Bear sleeper with the little hat with ears is next. Alaina wore this the day after we came home from the hospital to her first pediatricians appointment and multiple times after that. This was also the first outfit Alaina ever had a "blow out" in.
Then the "Lovable" jammies from Shelley with the little bear feet. She was sooo snuggly in these.
Moving to the top row on the left is the burgundy outfit Alaina wore for her first Thanksgiving with the fun "Baby's First Thanksgiving" bib that grammy got her.
Another bunny outfit from Aunt Ashley! This is what Alaina wore home from the hospital and received many compliments from the nurses!
There is the little pink striped hoodie she wore with her hot pink pants. She wore this when mommy took her up to visit work and everyone thought she was so beautiful with her hot pink bow in her hair.
Now, the little fleece bear outfit that I also bought at Carters. We took many pictures in this outfit as she was just mommy's little sweet bear.
Last but not least is a little purple sleeper with a butterfly on it. Seems a little insignificant to most but the day I found out I was having a girl we were running an errand to Wal-Mart and I saw this little sleeper and just had to have it, so, it was the first thing I ever bought for Alaina. The little baby we prayed so hard for. She was worth every minute of crying and praying. Worth every mile and minute for countless trips to my Dr. and the surgery that followed. Even the times when I was sure God couldn't possibly be listening to me anymore...he was. He knew exactly what my heart wanted and prayed for and, I like to think, Grammy Carolyn had a hand in it too.
So, as I sit her bawling and writing this, after bawling photographing and packing it up, I realize it is not just sad tears but happy ones. I have a healthy baby who is getting bigger every day and learning new things. I am blessed. :O)

January 10 - "Takin down...the Christmas Trees...No more Holidays!"

So after all the 'fun' with Alaina getting her shots and having ear infection last weekend we did not get any of our Christmas taken down, so, that was the task for this weekend! Today, the trees came down. Yes, I said trees, plural. I am my mother's daughter...and I am afraid I have inherited her love of decorating, or at least she made me inherit part of it by buying me stuff I have to find a place for, ha ha! (Just kidding mom...maybe...) So the picture above is the pile of ornament boxes after I put all of the ornaments off one tree away. I don't know if everyone keeps all the boxes, I do. It keeps them safe. :O)

We normally have a large tree in the basement but, much to Teddy's delight, I let that one go this year. It is normally decorated in "The Simpsons." In most people's minds, Teddy = Homer. Think about it, he works at a nuclear power plant, he bowls, he is bald and if you look carefully you will notice they have a similar shape...probably due to their similar love of donuts. So, Teddy's mom joined this ornament club where they sent her three Simpson's ornaments each time and that was like...two years ago. I have never counted but we must have 50+ ornaments and these things are BIG. So big, they require their own tree. We also normally hang our "family" ornaments on this tree but this year they shared a place on the other tree I will mention now.

The second tree is the "Penguin" Tree. This, I thank my mother for because three years ago she spent most of the year collecting penguin ornaments off eBay for Teddy for Christmas. Teddy is a fan of the Penguins hockey team and, over the years, this has translated into Teddy loves penguins. And if you know my family, they get a theme and they run with it. (Come see my run over totes of Apple stuff from the kitchen and rubber duck stuff from my bathroom...) So anyway, we had a few ornaments with penguins and suddenly we had enough they required their own tree. And, it keeps growing, because we have two collections with Hallmark that make new ornaments each year.

The third tree is actually mine. If you know me, you know I love precious moments and I have a decent collection of precious moments porcelain ornaments. I have the 12 days of Christmas and the nativity and then some random ones including the "Our First Christmas 2004" ornament and new to the collection this year, "Baby's First Christmas 2008." However, this is the smallest tree and if I get very many more ornaments it is going to have to be replaced with a larger tree. I think I hear Teddy crying in the background right now...

So as you can see, and as I remind my husband who grumbles every time I talk about our multiple Christmas trees, only one tree is "my fault." :O) And, these are just the trees. We also decorate the kitchen in gingerbread men, the fireplace with the nativity and stockings, the front hall with various snowmen and penguins. It is exhausting just to think about taking this all down. But, I enjoy it when it is up. And sadly, I will probably pass this obsession down to my daughter when I overdecorate, errrr, decorate her home. Ha ha! (Thanks mom!)

So, goodbye Christmas 2008! Goodbye trees and stockings and lights. Only 11 more months until I get to drag you all out again... I can't wait!

January 9 - *Ashes - Ashes - We break the door down!*

So, today I am going to break the rules a bit. It would be hard to describe this day with just one picture so for your viewing pleasure you get some freebies! The day started off a bit sluggish. Alaina's cough came back and she was very restless during the night last night because she would wake up coughing, lose the binky, I would have to reach into the bassinet and pop it back in and hope she went back to sleep. She was never really fully awake but, you could never really get into a deep sleep because this happened frequently. Regardless, up at 5:00 to get me ready, her fed, changed and dressed, get my stuff together and out the door. The schedule has been that Teddy takes her in to daycare and I pick her up. So this morning is trash day. We had collected all the trash in the house last night and got all of the recycling ready but it was getting late and Teddy decided he would just run it down to the curb in the morning. So after I left this morning Alaina was sleeping in her swing and Teddy decides he will just run out really quick and throw the garbage down next to the mailbox and then finish getting ready and leave for work. None of the animals will bother Alaina while she is in her swing because they don't like the motion of it. So off he goes to the garage, grabs the trash can and recycling bin, quickly takes them down the drive and comes back up to the garage to go back in the house. The door is locked. Duncan has this bad habit of jumping up at the door and locking it when he is excited you are home. It has happened in the past but of course never with a baby on the other side of the door. At this point the panic sat in a little. He goes over to the workbench and grabs some things he thinks might help pick the lock and sets to work. Suddenly Duncan starts barking on the other side of the door. Now, he was probably just barking because he knows someone is messing with the door knob but Teddy decides with Alaina in there this is no time to mess around. So, he puts his shoulder into the door... Here are the results...

Doors don't tend to stand up well to that kind of abuse. So Teddy gets back inside and of course Alaina is still sound asleep just swinging away. Everyone gets ready and thankfully the door will still shut, so they leave. Teddy emails me from work and tells me about his morning so that when I arrive home I don't jump to the conclusion that someone tried to break in. (I appreciate that) His summation of the situation was that "the door might need a little repair." Without seeing the damage, I take him at his word. He starts talking about what materials we might need and I offered the suggestion of a door knob with a TURN lock because unless Duncan suddenly sprouts aposable thumbs, he will not be able to lock us out anymore. Wow! What an idea! So you would think that would be enough drama for one day. NO! We are just getting started my friends. After a long day of work I can't wait to leave and as soon as the clock strikes 3:30 - I am out. I spent most of the drive to the daycare speaking with Ashley and my mom and I notice all the plows are out laying down treatment on the roads. I pick up Alaina and thankfully they say not only did she poo today (ha ha) but she didn't cough very much and she slept well which I was glad to hear. We leave and as we walk out it has started to freezing rain. Ugh. I get Alaina all secured and call Teddy to make sure he is leaving work. He promises he is leaving and Alaina and I set off for home. We pull up the street and find the nice garbage men left both the trash can and recycling bin right in the middle of the driveway... I can get around it but I decide since it is freezing rain I should probably drag them up the driveway before the drive gets too slick. If you have been to our house, you know why you don't go down the driveway when it is icy. Teddy did it last week and took a little ride. So I get Alaina out of the car and open the door where the trim promptly dislodges itself from the door and falls from it's abuse this morning. I set Alaina down and take her out of the car seat and set her in the swing in her snowsuit while I run out to grab the trash can where it is now SLEETING and pelting me in the face. (I had no fear of being locked out obviously...) I come back in and take my coat off to go tend to Alaina but from somewhere in the house I am hearing a very frantic "Meow, meow, MEOW! MEEEEEOOOOOW!!" Oh Lord... Alaina is still swinging so I go to investigate and trace the noise to the upstairs bathroom. Sam is lying in FRONT of the door looking at me. It is obviously Maggie... I open the door and she comes bounding out and proceeds to wind around my legs to thank me for saving her. Yae...she left us a little a present to clean up after her all day adventure. I took a picture but now I am deciding against posting it... You get the "picture." I just shut the door. I don't know how she got in there... Sam is like Houdini when it comes to doors. He somehow gets them open and I guess Maggie is just good at getting shut in. Meanwhile, I remember Alaina is still swinging... Poor thing. I rush downstairs and she has managed to fall asleep, snowsuit and all.
Cute little pink bear. I take her out of the swing and un-bundle her and feed her and in the meantime daddy gets home. Ha ha - I am otherwise engaged with the baby. "Hey honey - there is a mess upstairs that needs cleaned up." Teddy cleans up the mess and takes the rugs down to the wash and cleans the floor so that part is cleaned up but the door still stands in shambles and we won't be going to Lowes tonight! The ice turned sleet has now turned to snow. Big fluffy beautiful flakes that make you forget about, at least partially, the troubles from the day. *Sigh* Well...time to make dinner and try to enjoy the rest of the evening. I hope everyone else's days were better, but if not, thank the Lord it is the weekend! Time to recoup!

January 8 - Poo(h)

This picture seemed highly appropriate for todays blog. If you have kids, you will get this. If you don't...read at your own risk! This is my day! It is seemingly just a cute picture of Alaina and her Pooh Bear but little do you know, over the last two days we have been on a "Poo Watch." Nope, not some fun new spin-off with a David Hasselhoff and some busty blondes... We have literally been waiting for a dirty diaper. At first I didn't think much about it. Yesterday the day care mentioned they didn't have a dirty diaper all day. Hmmmm...okay. She just saved it for mommy. But when Alaina woke up this morning after sleeping all night and we were still waiting I was a little more concerned. I called the daycare once during the day to see if they had any "luck." Nope, not yet. By the time I picked her up I was debating calling the pediatrician or at the very least going home and reading my "What to Expect: The First Year" book about how long you wait before you worry. Especially when your child normally has 5+ dirtys a day! We got home and the cable guy was coming so I popped Alaina in her swing to take advantage of a few minutes to do a quick sweep of the house to make sure it was in order. After the cable guy left it was finally time for Alaina to eat and she was ready!! So we get settled on the couch and she starts to eat and then suddenly stops. I tried again and she appeared to not be hungry anymore. Suddenly...there was a rumble and just like that, the poo strike was over! (I will spare you the details here) Hooray!

Other then that, not much happened today. Did I mention how much I love being a parent? Seriously - no sarcasm there. :O) Love you Alaina and your poo(h) too!

Cuddle Time!

I love this picture that I took while we were in Iowa for Christmas.

Ice Storm

I just wanted to post some pictures I took after the ice storm in central Iowa because they are kind of fun! Enjoy! :O)

January 7 - Moo!

Nope...we are not at the farm, however, sometimes I feel like I should be! Every night when I return home from work I go through the process of unpacking my bag of milk from the mom's room that day and put it in the fridge. Then I take Alaina's bottles out of her bottle bag and take apart the 8 zillion pieces and get them put in the little dishwasher baskets. (I love Dr. Brown's bottles - they are amazing - but good gravy! All those parts!!) Get out the microwave sterilizer to sterilize all my pump parts. Unload the drying rack so there is room for stuff that comes out of the dishwasher. Take the clean bottles and measure out 3 oz in each for Alaina to take to daycare the next day. Rinse those containers and get them in line to be washed. *Sigh* Thinking about it just makes me tired. Just look at the pile of stuff it takes to get through a day? However, all the fuss is worth it for Lainey!

Not much to do this evening. Teddy has bowling League on Wednesday nights so he is already gone to that and it is just us girls hanging out, cleaning bottles and other dishes. I think we will be making dinner here in just a little bit. Nothing exciting! Just Mommy and Baby time which is the best!

January 6 - Finally caught up!!

Okay - so I am finally caught up to today. Woo hoo! Thank goodness I am a picture fanatic! Today was a busy day at work. I couldn't wait to pick up Alaina at daycare and go home! Unfortunately she has been sleepy all evening but I did get her to play on her rainforest mat and we did some TUMMY TIME before our bath which is going quite well. See??? Her neck is getting much stronger! Daddy lovingly refers to Alaina as his little bobble head - he he. Not for long! We are working those neck muscles!!

Well, I spent most of the evening catching up on blogging in between my time with Alaina and now I need to go get bottles ready and get clothes ready for everyone tomorrow. Plus, Teddy wants to change his fantasy basketball line-up and he is getting irritated with me hogging the computer!

January 5 - I'll miss the Christmas Dress

Back to work and it was definitely a Monday but nothing really worth talking about as far as work goes. Is work ever worth talking about? Rarely... It was a long day though since Alaina was up most of the night. I think I got a total of 2.5 or 3 hours of sleep. Ahhh - the joys of motherhood!! I picked Alaina up about 4:15 and we went home and did our normal routine of her eating and then we have to feed Duncan and put our bottles in the fridge. Daddy came home so mommy got a few things done while daddy loved on Alaina and then Daddy had to leave for basketball. So what did we do while daddy was gone? Mommy dressed Alaina up in her Christmas dress because she didn't think she had enough pictures of her in it before she had to retire it which mommy won't talk about because it makes mommy cry. So...mommy took like 50 pictures for sentimental reasons including hanging Alaina off her bouncy seat so she could get a picture of the ruffles on the back of her tights with her little red shoes. Thank you Alaina for being such a good sport for mommy especially when mommy teared up when she had to take the dress off and you smiled at her. Mommy loves you!

January 4 - Where did my vacation go?

Seriously? Four days went by that quickly? How is it already Sunday?

Today was dedicated to cleaning and getting ready for another FULL work week. Only my second full week of work since my return from maternity leave. It's going to be ROUGH. Not much happened today but I did take some fun pictures of Alaina and Duncan. I promised I wouldn't post pictures of Alaina EVERY day (just most days...he he) so today is dedicated to our first baby, Duncan. Duncan has done very well adjusting to having Alaina in the house and I couldn't be more proud of him. He is a guard dog with something to guard! Sometimes we get very wrapped up in paying attention to and loving on Alaina and we have to remember that Duncan was our first baby and he likes love and attention to. Thankfully, when we forget, Duncan patiently reminds us by shoving himself in between us on the couch or bringing us a slobbery toy to throw. You are still the baby Duncan and we love you!

January 3 - Childlike Wonder

Another day at home as a family... I know there are days when I can't wait to get out of the house and away from the dishes and laundry and everything that needs to be done. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in what needs to be done that I forget about what I should be doing. It can be hard to just sit and enjoy relaxing for a few hours. Alaina helps to remind me it is worth taking time to stop and smell the roses...or count the lambs. He he!

Alaina has a wonderful swing. Sometimes I wonder if we ever would have survived the last 10 weeks without that thing! What did people do before technology!?! There have been nights where the only place we could get her to sleep was in the swing. Anyway - just in the past week she has began to notice the lambs that dance around above her as she swings and she LOVES them. Now pretty much any time we put her in the swing she TALKS to them. She truly loves those little lambs dancing above her head. I sat and watched her for 20 minutes just stare and coo at them and it was the best 20 minutes of the entire day. Were there other things I should have been doing?!?! HECK YES! But in a week will I remember the dishes I got done or the clothes I folded? No...but I do remember taking the time to stop and count the lambs.

Thank you Lord for life lessons that even a 10 week old can teach me!

January 2 - FINALLY!!!

FINALLY - 6 months to the DAY the last piece of furniture for Alaina's nursery arrived, UNBROKEN, from Nebraska Furniture Mart. Unfortunately, it was not put together like they told us it would be so, Teddy to the rescue! The piece we were missing was the shelving unit that sits on top of the changing table piece. We ordered Alaina's entire nursery of furniture on July 2. NFM assured us that it would be here in PLENTY of time for baby... Grrr... I know this is not totally NFM's fault because I know it was a special order set, BUT, I am still slightly irritated over the whole thing. The crib and the changing table piece came in a little late but no problems. The dresser came in as well but when they went to deliver it they found it was "damaged beyond repair" and had to reorder from the company - they promised 4 weeks. The shelving unit was back-ordered. The dresser finally came in the middle of October. Still waiting on the shelves. The shelves FINALLY came in and guess what!?!? BROKEN - had to reorder. So as you can see - we have waited and waited and waited to complete this project and now FINALLY I can get everything arranged and stuff hung on the walls, etc. HOORAY!!! Anyway - this is a picture of the finished piece with the shelves on top.

Also today we went to Red Lobster for dinner for my birthday since Alaina was feeling better and then we went to Babies R Us to buy a TOY BOX for my TWO MONTH OLD because she was sooooooo blessed by her family at Christmas!! He he he!!

January 1 - HAPPY NEW YEAR?!?

I promise that not every day will be a new picture of Alaina... ;o)

As mentioned in the previous post, Alaina slept through the night and seemed very sleepy most of new years day. I think this probably had to do with the shots/ear infection/medicine running through her tiny little body. (She still has not broke 10 pounds but we are CLOSE!) Anyway - I decided it would be fun to take pictures of her in her diaper as like a little "Baby New Year" photo shoot. Now, the picture above she is not in her diaper. Oh no - I picked this one because it cracked me up. This was the last shot - she was done. Bad mommy - I don't feel well and you are posing me for your own photographic gain?? *Sigh* Sorry Alaina...great way to start the year!

December 31 - How the year started...

To do justice to how my year started, I will start with how 2008 ended. Alaina was scheduled to go in to the Dr to get her 2 month shots. The 2 month shots consist of 2 shots in 1 leg and 1 shot in the other and they also squirt this stuff in the baby's mouth. You can imagine how much FUN we had watching all of that. Thankfully, Teddy went to the Dr with me and he helped the nurse by holding Alaina's arms back so she could administer the shots. It wasn't as bad as I had prepared myself for it to be. Don't get me wrong, it was terrible to see her cry, but I had envisioned this horrific screaming to the point of not breathing and that just is not what happened. She cried a little after each poke and when the nurse was done Teddy picked her up and she looked at him and gave a little "waa!" as if to say "what the heck?" and that was about it. The cruddy thing was at this same time they let us know that she has EAR INFECTION!! Oh no!! We are praying the ear infection is just an after thought of the cold she had the week before and NOT the beginning of the luck Mommy had with her ears her whole childhood... So off we went to Hy-Vee to fill her Rx for the ear infection. We spent New Years Eve/My birthday at the house with Alaina letting her sleep and I think I drifted off around 10:30?? Yeah...I didn't even make it to the New Year but I welcomed it the next morning after Alaina slept the WHOLE night! HAPPY NEW YEAR - Mommy got her "SILENT NIGHT!"

Oooo! I want to play too!! 365 Day Challenge

So my Aunt Michelle and her cousin Julie decided they were going to take this '365 day' photo challenge (see details here http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/) Basically...the idea is to take 1 photo a day for all 365 days of the year and either scrapbook or blog about it. At the end of the year you have a photo-journal of the years activities. With the new addition to the family I really think this is a fun idea. Although I am a little late getting started, THANKFULLY I am a photo addict as it is so I have a picture for the days I missed. *Woo hoo!* As fun as this sounds initially I am worried it might get a little old but when I thought about it I religiously check my MySpace and Facebook every day, so, what is one more thing on the list? Anyway... Here we go!!
*Luv-N-Hugs*
Amber

My First Bath - November 2

Not very happy...

Really not happy...

Are you done yet?

That is better!

Peek-a-Boo!!

All Done!!

The first bath went pretty well. Of course, it had to be a sponge bath since her cord is still there so it was harder to keep her warm while we were doing it. Once we got her in the towel after the bath she was okay again! She enjoyed getting her 'jammies' on and cuddling with daddy in the rocking chair after bath time was all over. It didn't take long for her to go to sleep!

Pictures From November 1st

Smile
Me and Mommy

More Kisses from Mommy

Mommy, Alaina, and Daddy

Onesie from Uncle Chad - Party at My Crib!

Sent from heaven...

Much to Daddy's dismay, we had some fun with Alaina today. Isn't she a pretty little angel?? ;o)

More Pictures of Alaina!!

Sleeping with Daddy

So we are home from the hospital! Hooray! Time to post some new pics of our adventures since we arrived home!

Alaina Grace Hutchinson

Please join in welcoming the newest addition to the Hutchinson Family:
Alaina Grace Hutchinson - Born October 28, 2008 at 6:42 AM
7 pounds 5 ounces and 19 and 1/2 inches long with LOTS of dark hair!

Enjoy some pictures! :O)

Let's Try This Again...

So since we are so close to the baby coming now I should be better about updating our blog - not sure that many people read this anyway. Most of my friends just check my MySpace or Facebook but the nice thing about a blog is people don't have to be a member or sign up to be your "friend" to view pictures and plus, I can write when I post pictures which is kind of nice...

So for some new pics and laughter... We bought Duncan his Halloween costume this weekend. We always have a ton of trick-or-treaters each year and they have come to look forward to coming to our house and seeing Duncan all dressed up for the festivities and I hate to disappoint this year even though it is going to be an extremely busy week. So anyway...enjoy the pictures! :O)