Happy Birthday, Jen!

My sister-in-law, Jen, is visiting for her birthday weekend and is meeting Allison for the first time. As you can tell, they bonded quickly. Jen brought her video camera, and I dont think she even put it down while we got ice cream at Pacuigo's! That's a dedicated doting aunt, if I ever saw one.

After ice cream we walked around the new stores in Allen (off Bethany) and stopped for a few pictures along the way. I have to be blamed for putting Allison on the huge copper duck. She didnt like it very much, but the unhappiness was short-lived. I think that may be what her first picture with Santa will look like, too. (Dont worry, the duck wasn't hot - I checked).







Today is Jen's actual birthday, and we had planned to take her to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch after church, but we decided it would be too crowded. So, today we will lay low and take it easy. But tomorrow, there WILL be cheesecake!

Happy Birthday, Jen!

Best of Both Worlds

Last night Frank and I dropped Allison off at my parents house and we headed out for a double date with Amy and Eric. We chose Ricardo's Mexican restaurant in Allen for their famous margaritas - and because we had coupons. We had a great time eating on the patio on an unusually cool day in August.

It was so nice to take a break from "mommy-mode" for just a couple of hours and enjoy an adult drink and some adult conversation. We're very lucky to have family in town who are willing to watch our little girl for us so we can take time for ourselves on occasion. I really think it makes us better parents when we have the opportunity to miss Allison. I'm certainly not ready to spend more than a few hours away from her, but even that much allows me to refocus.

Quote of the evening from Eric: "I slept on my giraffe wrong last night, and now it's killing me!" Just one of the reasons we like Eric. I almost spit out my drink when he said that - but you probably had to be there. :)

One Word Survey

I was tagged by Jessica... thanks!
The Rules: Answer the questions using only one word. Then tag three others.
I tag: Frank, Margaret, and Eric


1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your significant other? Hot
3. Your hair? Short
4. Your mother? Giver
5. Your father? Successful
6. Your favorite thing? Bath
7. Your dream last night? Baby
8 Your favorite drink? Limeade
9. Your dream/goal? Family
10. The room you’re in? Living
11. Your hobby? Photography
12. Your fear? Spiders
13. What do you want to be in 6 years? Changed
14. What you’re not? Employed :)
15. Muffins? Bluebery
16. One of your wish list items? Coach
17. Where you grew up? Carrollton
18. The last thing you did? Nurse
19. What are you wearing? PJs
20. Favorite gadget? Camera
21. Your pets? Clingy
22. Your computer? Addicting
23. Your mood? Hopeful
24. Missing someone? Serra
25. Your car? Blessing
26. Something you’re not wearing? Jewelry
27. Favorite store? Loft
28. Like someone? Amy
29. Your favorite color? Black
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? Tuesday

Punkin' Napped...Three times!

So in all the baby news I could share, Allison's napping abilities probably doesnt seem like the most interesting thing I could choose. However, my little girl was an anti-napper until two days ago. In fact, on Tuesday I broke down into tears around 7pm after a long day of her NOT napping. I had tried everything! I tried walking her around, I rocked her, fed her, sang to her, put a towel over her window to make her room dark, and I tried the "cry it out' method. None of these things worked and all the effort left me even more exhausted and ill-prepared to listen to her crying for another minute. To top it off, after she got her shots last Friday she got increasing worse at sleeping through the night. She gradually went from sleeping 6 hours at a time back to her old 3 hour schedule, and I was beyond frustrated.

Anyway, all that to say that she has come leaps and bounds since Tuesday. I decided today to watch the clock very carefully and attempt to get her on a set schedule. I really didnt think it would work for me, but it has! My child has gone from the "no napping cranky wonder" to taking three 1.5 hour naps in one day! If she can keep this up, imagine what I can do with my time! Maybe I can actually reclaim my life as a list-maker! (see blog "Aim Low"). I know this is not great reading for anyone, but I wanted to document her accomplishments, anyway.

In other Allison news, she has almost mastered the art of sucking her thumb. She can now consistently get just her thumb in her mouth - as opposed to her fist, palm, or a few fingers. However, she hasnt figured out how to make a fist with her fingers and still suck on her thumb, and here is the result:



She has scratches all over her nose because of this, but how cute!

Anyway, here are some cute pictures to make up for the lack of a good topic. :)

Cute, Cute, CUTE!

I've been having so much fun with Allison this week!  She's really ramping up the social smiles, which is SO adorable!  She's also experimenting with new noises, and she's even got a couple of new cries (which are also cute).  She's very impressed with herself when she finds a new noise.  Once she made a new squeal in the middle of crying and busted out a huge smile for a moment because I guess that made her happy. 

 

In other news, Allison has "slept through the night" the last two nights!  I put that in quotes because she still requires a feeding around 3am, but that's after sleeping for 6 hours straight!  I would need to go to bed at 8pm in order get that much as well, so that's not going to happen, but it's nice that she's finally old enough to skip her midnight meal.  Now, I just need to learn to sleep too.  I'm so used to listening for her that I wake at the slightest noise. 

Funny story - the first week or so that we had her I dreamed that I was holding her in bed and trying to feed her.  I half woke up and panicked because the pillow I was actually holding didn't feel like a baby.  I woke up Frank from a deep sleep, and the conversation went something like this:

K:  Frank!  Can you please check on Allison?  She's over here.     Motioning to my arms.

F: Ok. He gets out of bed and walks over to her pack-n-play and peeks in.

K: No!  She's over here!

F: Babe, that's a pillow.

K: Oh. Are you sure??

F: Yes.  She's in her bed and asleep.

K: Ok.  Still uncertain.

Frank still laughs at me for this, and I can't blame him.  However, in my MAJORLY sleep deprived state, one can hardly fault me for being slightly delusional.  I still find myself cuddling with a pillow and on the verge of panic about once a week, but I remind myself how stupid I looked the first time and force myself to wake up enough to verify on my own that it is, in fact, just a pillow.

Anyway, I have some more pictures to share, but I also wanted to list my favorite things about Allison right now.

1. She LOVES her changing table - or maybe just having her diaper changed.  I can't tell which.  She can be in the middle of throwing the biggest fit, but if you lay her on that pad, she is all smiles! 

 

2. When I hold her up against my shoulder she loves to hold her head up and look around.  But, if her neck gets tired, instead of putting her head down she will rest her cheek against mine so she doesn't miss anything around her.

3. She has truly discovered her hands, and is trying desperately to suck on her thumbs.  When we put her to bed at night she goes searching for them, and can't quite figure out why they wont stay in her mouth.  She makes the cutest little sucking noise when she finally gets it right.

Well, that's all I have time for right now.  I'm off to bed!  If you want to leave a comment about how cute she is, I'd be ok with that!  :)

 

Bragging Rights

Baby Allison turned 8 weeks old on Thursday, and our little 11.5 lb girl is learning so much!  I assumed that I was attributing all of her advances to genius status simply because I'm her mother and mothers always think their kid is perfect, but Frank insisted that she really is, in fact, quite gifted. :) 

So here I am to brag about my little one, who I'm sure is convinced that her name is "Punkin".  First, she's been able to lift and control her head for about two weeks or so now.  She's also very curious about her world, and constantly wants Daddy to carry her around the house.  She's especially fond of windows and ceiling fans, but has added Maggie, the TV and the painting over the couch to her list of interesting things to stare at.  She's also very close to rolling over.  She's always been a fan of tummy time, and seems about one good kick from flipping from her back to her tummy.  She's also starting to express an opinion, which - true to her roots - is almost always a strong opinion.  When she's happy, she grins the happiest little smile you ever saw.  But when she's unhappy (as when food is not delivered as quickly as she would like), she has a very distinct little noise that sounds like the verbal equivalent of stamping her foot.  She's also a budding Olympian in the tub, holding her head up above the water and kicking her legs.

Frank has decided it's time to start reading to her, and - in addition to the Noah popup book his aunt Sheila got her - he's read Plato, NT Wright and Tim Keller to her.  He claims she's a fan, but I have my doubts.  Jackie comes over to help me out on Thursday mornings (which is SUCH a blessing!), and reads her Peter Pan.  She swears she understands it.  Her words, not mine, folks.

Alas, she's still not sleeping through the night, but is at least very happy at 3am.   

Here are some more pics of our beautiful little genius...  but you can call her Punkin' :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four Generations

Last weekend my Grandmother, Aunt Susan, her son Jon, and his wife Laura came to Dallas to visit my family and meet baby Allison for the first time. Allison was given her middle name (Joy) in honor of my Grandmother, so I was really excited to introduce them. My Grandmother is the type of woman that I hope Allison will become. She's the sweetest and one of the most godly women I've ever known. Her devotion to her faith, her church, and her family and friends defines who she is.
A lot of my memories of childhood come from her home. I remember playing dress-up in the back room of her house using old dresses that she kept in a brown paper bag. I remember loving a doll that we named "oh-baby". I remember her letting us eat the ice cubes that she put in the jello mixture to cool it down, and I remember exploring all around her backyard and dancing on Granddaddy's feet. I always felt at home there. I really hope that Allison gets a chance to know her great-grandmother and make some memories of her own.

Here are some more pictures from the weekend.

Aunt Susan with Allison


My cousin Jon and his wife Laura


I cant explain this. Amy and Eric are strange. :)




And of course some sweet pictures of my baby girl having fun with her toys! I love her smile and the little double chin!