Funny Face Friday!!

What is this toy?

Just look at those eyes!!

Copying everyone else!

Snow Pictures!!

Well I had to get Kaylee outside for her first snowfall. I only made one mistake with it though, I took her out before feeding her.

Before feeding:

I even introduced her to her first taste of snow.

She didn't like it:(

After feeding and standing up with assistance.

In all of the pictures I had her either sitting or standing on another jacket since she doesn't like shoes yet.

She even made her first snow angel, not sure if you can make it out very well. I outlined it so you can see it better.

Growing up!!!

I love this picture!!! It is so surprising how big Kaylee is getting. I just can't believe it. Plus I love getting pictures of Kaylee and Daddy.

Teething

So, I feel so bad. I knew Kaylee was getting one of her two upper front teeth, but today I looked in her mouth and saw a total of 4 new teeth coming in. All are her top front teeth and they are all poking through at the same time. No wonder why she has been irritable, eating all the time (well that is not that unnormal), and not sleeping well. Not to mention the poop situation. I guess I can't complain anymore.

I will get a picture of her new smile when they are all showing.

Clearance

Hope it is not too late but JCPenney is having a "buy one get one free" of there clearance merchandise. Brian and I just went over there tonight. I think I spent over 2 hours looking at clothes. Of course some of that was nursing in the dressing room, something I have become very acustom to. I did get one pair of pants, a skirt, and 2 winter tops at a pretty good deal. The sale either ends sunday or monday though.

Funny Face Friday!!

Chocolate pudding anyone? Just kidding. It is prunes to see if I could hlep her poop - too many bananas lately:(

These teeth hurt.

Have a good weekend everyone!!!

Beautiful Day:)

Today was such a beautiful day outside. It was 55 degrees outside so Kaylee and I got outside for about 45 minutes. We talked with neighbors and went for a walk. We also stopped at our local neighborhood playground. Kaylee already loves to swing and go down the slide. I do not have any pictures this time, but next nice day I will grab the camera also.

I encourage you to throw a hat and sweatshirt on and go to a playground. You will be reenergized!!!

By the way, Kaylee is getting one of her top teeth in and she is constipated.
It is loads of fun:)

Chocolate Fix!!

I have a confession:

I am addicted to Nutella Hazelnut spread.

I was first introduced to this the first time I ever visited Brian's parents house before we were even engaged. This stuff is great on bread in conjuction with peanut butter, but it is so addictive. My problem is though, if I feel like I need something chocolate (which is every day), I will just get a clean spoon out and take a spoonful of this and eat it straight. It takes care of my chocolate craving, but is probably worse than having some actual chocolate. It is such an addiction and I know that I would actually be losing weight if I could stop eating this stuff. I told Brian that once this jar is out of the house, this stuff is no longer coming back in the house.

So what are your food addictions? With all the people setting New Year's resolutions, what is it that you can no longer have in the house? Be honest, I know I am not the only one out there eating straight from the jar:)

Weekend Activities

On saturday, we went to Alton to see the eagles. This has to be one of Brian and I's favorite thing to do in January and February. This past saturday, the river was frozen over so we were worried that the eagles would not be out much. Boy, were we wrong!!! Usually we go and they are sitting in the trees and we will try to walk as close as we can to see if they will take flight. This day they were flying all over the place. Kaylee loved sitting in her car seat and looking out the window. I am not sure if she saw them, but she seemed to have a lot of fun. Here are just a few pictures that I took, Brian got some good ones too (I think he took another 800 pictures). Hope you get a chance to see them.

This one is a young one so the colors are different until they mature.

After the eagles, we went to the Calvin-Hope basketball game. Brian's parents and Brian went to Calvin and so every year, some people from Calvin and Hope college get together to watch the game. We got to see some of Brian's friends that came into town for the weekend. It was a lot of fun and Calvin won by one point!!! In the picture is Kristin Bush with us.

The day was very busy and Kaylee just crashed after supper (ok, maybe mom did also:)!!).

Kaylee's Dedication

John 10:27 "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." This was the verse read for Kaylee's dedication by Pastor Bill Jones. We have it video taped so I will add video later, just for my record. Thank you to all who shared in this day with us.

Just an excuse to get a family picture.

Kaylee goes to the Chiropractor

I have been going to the chiropractor the past few days for my back and Kaylee has been coming with me. We got talking about her and come to find out that she gets free care until the age of 10!!! She won't get adjusted very often, only on an as needed basis. He told us to hang her upside down by her ankles and if she leans to one side then that means she may be in pain and needs an adjustment. I know it totally sounds weird, but he said it works. Also if she starts showing signs of allergies or other things then to bring her in.

I did not get a picture of him actually adjusting her as I was holding her for that, but here is a picture of him demonstrating how to hold her upside down. Like we need demonstrating of flipping our kids around:)

Orange Madness

In the world of starting to feed my daughter carrots and squash and things that are orange, I need some advice. What do you use to get the orange color off of her tray of her high chair? Also, what do you use to get the stains out of the clothes? I have tried to soak her clothes in Oxy clean for about an hour, but some things just don't seem to come out. I would love to hear what you use for both the tray and for the clothes.

Also, I got a lot of comments about Kaylee's pictures and Brian and I were toying with the thought of offering that to other people. Starting up a little side business or something. Either for couples, kids, or families. We would not have to do the tent but just have the backdrops and it would look just as professional. We were thinking charging $30 and then you would get a CD with all of your photos to print on your own. I am just not sure if the demand is out there. I know a lot of people want to save money and this would definitely save money. I just printed my pictures at Sams for less than $20 for over 150 pictures total. Even including 8x10's. What is your thought? Is the demand out there?

6 Month Check-up

Kaylee had her 6 month check-up today. She got a clean bill of health. We now get to officially start her on fruits and vegetables 3 times a day. She also gets a sippy cup with water, which she already knows how to get it to her mouth and she absolutely LOVES water.



Kaylee weighs 19.4 pounds and is 26 1/2 inches long. She is still 95% for weight and 75% for height.

Professional or Brian? Can you tell the difference?

Here is a hint:

That was the photo tent I mentioned in an earlier post that Brian was bringing home from work. We had a lot of fun taking pictures of Kaylee. We had to take turns entertaining her while the other shot the pictures.

Here is just a sampling of the 850 pictures that we took.

I have ahold of the end of the flower so it does not go in the mouth.

There was no keeping this one out of her mouth.

I think this was the only picture we got with a flower but not in her mouth.

Thumbs up dude!!

She is just laughing at us here.

Playing with her stacking cups. I think it has been her favorite Christmas present and it was only $2. Can't beat that.

This is without me doing anything in photoshop. I think I have just a few pictures that I can have some fun with:)

6 months old

Kaylee is 6 months old today.

My has time flown by. She is getting cuter every day. I absolutely love this picture and am going to print this one and others that Brian and I will be taking this weekend. We are going to try and save money and bring home a 5 foot "tent" from Brian's work to take some pictures of Kaylee instead of taking her to the studio. We will see what we get and I will post some pictures. Don't worry grandparents, I will print some for everyone:)



I was hoping to be able to say that she is taking naps in her crib during the day but I can not say that, yet. She does sometimes, but not consistently. We are still working on it. Maybe by the time she turns 6 YEARS old I will be able to:) just kidding.

Kaylee had her second Parents as Teachers meeting yesterday and is doing very well. She was very impressed with Kaylee sitting up and for so long. The meeting lasted almost an hour and Kaylee sat up for over half of it.

Kaylee's new found thing to do is play in the bath tub. Since she is sitting up more she is discovering the water and the mess she can make. I usually get a bath at the same time she does, or atleast get my clothes washed!!!


***Just to let everyone know, Kaylee is getting dedicated Jan. 18th during second hour at First Evangelical Free Church. Come celebrate with us.

Update on the lead law

I got an email from once upon a child that they were checking into that new law about lead testing that was passed because so many questions had been brought up about it with the concern for second hand stores.

Here is an exerpt from the email that the CPSC sent out in clarification. You can read it at http://www.cpsc.gov/ for further info.


"The new law requires that domestic manufacturers and importers certify that children's products made after February 10 meet all the new safety standards and the lead ban. Sellers of used children's products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.

This is good news when you buy most of your things second hand but may not be good for those making products here. I am still not sure what it all means. Nicole had blogged about this earlier which is the first time I had read about this.

It's the little things

It is the little things that make Brian and I happy.

We recently bought this blender and have been using almost every day. We will either make "green goo" as we call it, thanks Sarah for the recipe, or we make fruit smoothies in the evening. We used to try to make these things with a magic bullet, but decided to splurge and get a blender. It was the best decision EVER!!!! It is so much easier and WAY faster than a measly little bullet.

What is He doing?

Lets play a game. What do you think my husband is making in this hobby room?

Here are a couple of pictures to help you imagine what is going on in this room.

I am not sure if it is coming across well, but there are cell phone parts, computers, and just wires everywhere.

Brian has an addiction - I will admit it for him:)

If anyone says that they can't get some item of electronics working, Brian's ears perk up. He starts thinking what is in there that I could use. So then what happens? He inherits the peice of junk, I mean parts, for whatever he is building in here.

I have to admit when we first got this room set up, I got a little nervous at what he was building and we had to have a talk that nothing would ever be in here that could potentially harm our family. I am not nervous anymore, except for the fact that he barely has any room to sit to work on any of this stuff. I saw a show once that talked about hording, I discussed this with Brian. I have limited him to how many things he can have at one time. He gets a few shelves in our unfinished basement that he can store things but if he fills them up then he has to weed things out. Needless to say it is over flowing right now and there is a very heavy TV in our garage that I am begging him to take apart and get what he wants to we can get the TV out of the garage.

I have to admit that one of the things he wants to build is a robotic lawnmower!! I will no longer have to mow the lawn and all of our neighbors will be so jealous.

By the way, Brian knows I am posting this, he likes to show it off to people.

I do get a small corner of the hobby room for sewing and anything else I want to do but this is probably 1/3 of the room. It just amazes me.

New Toys!!!

Here are a couple of pictures of Kaylee's Christmas presents. Thank you to Aunt Jill, and Grandma and Grandpa for them. She has had a lot of fun playing with them.


Here is the "little people" princess carriage. I don't think she quite gets what it is yet, but she likes to eat it:) She puts everything in her mouth right now so it is no surprise.

A stroller that she can grow with. Right now she can sit in front of it and play with it but then soon she can stand with it and push her dolls around in the stroller.

These are the stacking cups that Brian and I gave her in her stocking. I can barely get them set back up before she has them knocked over again. She loves it and it is so much fun to play with her.

I think it took about 20 tries to get a shot of her knocking them down because every time I would set them up and then get the camera ready she would have them knocked over and waiting for me to set them up again.

Sleeping issues

I am writing this while listening to my daughter cry in her crib. You see, Kaylee is a great crib sleeper at night and has been for a long time. I can put her down at bed time and, with either no fussing at all or just a little whimper, she is out. She has also been sleeping through the night most nights for a long time. So you ask, why is she crying in her crib right now? Well, it is not bedtime, it is nap time.

Kaylee has never been one for sleeping in her crib for naps during the day. From birth she has either had to be held or put in the swing to take a nap during the day. I asked my doctor about it and he said not to worry about it until closer to 6 months. Well she is going to be 6 months on saturday and so I am committing this week to try and get her to sleep in her crib. I think I have to do this more for my sanity also. It gets very tiring just sitting on the couch for 4 or more hours every day just holding Kaylee so she gets a nap. If I had this to do all over again, I would have tried to get her to sleep in her crib from the very beginning.

I have read a couple of books on techniques for this and so now we are trying it. I have to say, this is one stubborn little girl when it comes to sleeping in the crib:) I only have myself to blame for this now, but we will get through this. Brian was thankfully here yesterday as we started it. She cried for a total of 45 minutes and then took a 35 minute nap. i check on her after the first 2 sets of ten minutes but then give her more time after that. This morning was no success, she cried for the total hour and fell asleep in my arms afterwards. Right now she is finally sleeping in her crib after crying for about 50 minutes. I am hoping she takes atleast an hour nap. I am off to get some things done in the house!!! Maybe when I post about her 6 month birthday, I will add in there that she is sleeping in her crib every day!!!!

New Milestone

Kaylee has started to sit up on her own!!!! We have been practicing it a lot lately and yesterday she did it for over a minute. You will notice in the pictures, in the first one there is nothing surrounding her, but in the other pictures there is a folded blanket behind her and pillows on each side. That is not because mom was too busy taking pictures that she allowed her daughter to fall backwards and then realized that there is not much padding under this carpet in the basement. She did recover, after a short fall of tears, but was fine after a few minutes. I think mom was about to cry, but got over it after a minute also.

Pre blankets:

Post blankets:

Now we have blanket and pillows:

Falling this time was no big deal:

Right back up and playing the drums:

Something non related, but totally gross that happened yesterday. Kaylee is a big spitter-upper. No big deal, every baby does it. Yesterday, while having some play time she was about to spit up but then sneezed at the same time. So the spit up started to come out her nose!!! I had to grab the bugger sucker and got lots out. She kept sneezing for me to be able to keep sucking it all out. I think we finally got it out and then she decided she was hungry. That's my girl. Nothing keeps her from eating.

Spoiled Trick

I have been waiting to post this because we were going to play a trick on Uncle Kevin, but now that the trip to GR was canceled for us due to illness, I figured I would post it.

Remember this picture

Well Kaylee now has 2 teeth. We were not going to tell Uncle Kevin about it and wait until he stuck his fingers in her mouth. They are very sharp teeth and she still loves to suck/bite on your fingers. We thought it would be a great surprise when he stuck his fingers in there and she bit down. If you look really close, you can see the bottom two teeth are in. She got her first tooth on her five month birthday and the second tooth came right behind. She had two teeth for Christmas so one of her stocking presents was a baby toothbrush with some toothpaste that is ok for her age.

Not the best picture but I was trying to get the teeth to show.