Sleep change

We've changed Allyssa's bedtime routine by adding putting away toys and subtracting rocking. We were putting her toys away for her, but now she is required to help. She doesn't care for it because she is tired and she sees toys she'd still like to play with, but everything takes time and she will learn. As far as not rocking Allyssa, that has gone well. For the week and a half or so before we took away rocking, Allyssa was not falling asleep when we rocked her anyways. She was going to bed awake and staying awake for up to an hour and a half before falling asleep on her own. She always was put in her crib at 7:30. Now she is put in her crib with no rocking at about 7:15 or 7:20. Saturday was the first try. She was up for 1 hour before falling asleep. That was typical of a normal day, so we weren't frustrated with the results. Sunday, she was holding a stuffed dog, so David put her to bed with it. She fell asleep on her own within 20 minutes. No crying. Some fussing. Today we gave her the dog. No crying or fussing. Asleep withing 15 minutes. I think she likes this new bedtime routine (except for the putting toys away part).

Scheduling Part 2

One reason I really love a schedule is that it helps the parents see when something needs to be changed. I know that my daughter needs a new bedtime routine because she quit going to sleep easily. She quit caring that she was being rocked and often fell asleep in bed on her own. It would take her a while, but she would do it, and often quietly.

Today a new bedtime routine was started. We bathed her and got her dressed for bed, read 2 books to her and gave kisses. We wrapped her up and gave her her pacifier, but instead of sitting down in the den to rock her, we carried her straight back to her room. She was quiet at first, like she has been every night this week when I've laid her down to sleep. Then she began to cry. I know that she can fall asleep on her own, so no rocking for her tonight. It will be hard for her at first because she is used to being rocked, but she'll get the idea. In a couple of weeks, she'll be much better at this.

Another reason that I like my particular schedule is that it includes a lot of unscheduled time. Approximatly 5 days out of every week, Allyssa does not have to go anywhere or do anything in particular from the time she is done with breakfast until lunch time and again from the time she wakes from her afternoon nap until supper. I think that this is very important. This is the time in which Allyssa develops most of her skills. This is the time in which I teach her new words like "grass" when we see the dog roll around in it. This is the time in which Allyssa gets to practice her fine motor skills and learn shapes and colors and everything else that toddlers learn. Not every minute of every morning or every afternoon of these days occur at our house, but most do.
For example: Today I needed to go to the store to get milk and a few other things. Allyssa got bored with the particular thing she was playing with, so I said to her, "Allyssa would you like to play, go to the store, or clean something?" I was open to any of these ideas knowing that the trip to the store could be delayed until another time. Now Allyssa is 18 months old and does not know how to say the words "play," "store," or "clean," but she does understand that I ask her similar questions often and that she is getting to choose the next activity. Today, going to the store was her choice (and she had a great time talking with every customer in the whole store). I knew that this was her choice because after I asked the question, she walked directly to the workshop where the shoes are kept.

Other days she does not get the option for a trip to the store. Some days her options are dolls, blocks, or a walk. The important thing in my opinion is that she is learning to make decisions and she is spending the majority of her time at home. Car trips teach toddlers very little. Sure, after a while, toddlers will become easier travellers than they were before or they'll learn to "read" a book in the car, but at this age learning takes place in an environment like home. That doesn't mean that I think that kids should go no where, but I do think that outings shouldn't take place too often. (I am also not saying that home is the only place kids learn. Kids who attend daycare have schedules and days very similar to my daughter's daily activities. All moms know that no one can replace them, but some moms do need or have to work and other moms choose to work. My personal choice is to be a professional mother. I take my job as a mom very seriously and know that it is just as respectable as the work of mothers who work outside the home. I don't know what it is like to be a mom who works outside the home, so because I cannot understand their situation or lifestyle choice as well as they can, I think it is important for me to find worth in my own occupation and allow them to find worth in what they do as well. And of course, as Christians, we know that our true worth is found in Christ.)

Night-Night

I was sitting next to a pillow, and Allyssa patted it and said, "Night-night." I layed my head down and said it back to her and began to pretend to snore. Allyssa watched me for a little while and then tottered off to get a toy. I was thinking, "Oh how sweet! She's bringing me something to cuddle with!" She came back with a little, plastic pig.

My pretend snoring sounds like a pig! (Good thing I really don't snore! :) )

Scheduling

I'm all about a schedule. I like them very much. I feel like life is much less hectic and chaotic with one. Here is Allyssa's current schedule (and I am LOVING it):

6:30 am sometimes arouses to get a pacifier and will either play quietly or fall back asleep; other days she sleeps right through

7:00-7:30 am Allyssa wakes up. After waking she likes to stay in her crib with one of us there talking with her for a few minutes. Then, we dress her.

7:00-7:45 am Somewhere in this time Allyssa eats breakfast. She eats oatmeal often and will eat an entire adult serving. She also likes omlets (thank you Sarah for the omlet pot!!), pancakes, and French toast.

After breakfast she usually gets her second diaper of the day, but it is play time.

Somewhere around 8:30 we get Mommy all ready for the day and say goodbye to Daddy.

She often wants to play outside at 9, but not always. We will also go on short shopping trips to get groceries at this time about twice a week.

Recently, she has given up her morning snack. I ask her if she wants one at 9:30, and if she doesn't she tells me what she wants to play with. We play together inside or outside until 11 when she begins to tell me that Daddy needs to come home and she wants to eat and take a nap. We look for Daddy out the window and change her diaper. Then we start getting lunch ready while we look for Daddy.

11:30 am: Lunch

11:45 am: Nap

1:30 or 2 pm: Nap over. Snack time. During snack time, I cook supper and stick it in the refrigerator to be heated later.

After snack: play indoors or out. Allyssa gets ready for Daddy to come home around 4. I try to stall her with toys, going outside or sweeping. She loves to help sweep and vacuum the kitchen.

5pm: Supper gets stuck in the microwave. Daddy gets home.

5:15 or 5:30: Supper

Right after supper right now we do Advent devos that she really loves. They only last a couple of minutes, but they are the highlight of her evening. After supper she plays with the nativity by the Christmas tree or any other toy she wants.

6:30: Milk. Allyssa doesn't need a snack most nights before bed, but she will occasionally ask for one. She does drink some milk before bed every night.

6:45: Bath time occurs every other day. If David is the one giving her a bath, he starts 5 minutes later than I do.

7:00: If it is a non-bath night getting dressed for bed happens now.

7:05: If it is a bath night, getting dressed for bed happens now.

7:15: 2 books and lots of kisses

7:15: Rock for 15 minutes
7:30: Put to bed, awake or asleep. She often will fall asleep on her own these days after we lay her down. If not, she gets re-rocked around 8 but that doesn't happen very often any more.

She has been sleeping through the night more and more regularly, but sometimes she does wake up. Last night she did because of a stupid train that blared its horn the whole way through town and was going at snail's pace because of road construction. Allyssa didn't sleep through that and needed a pacifier and to be tucked back in, then she fell right asleep.

Pregnancy Stuff

I never can decide which blog to put stuff about my pregnancy stuff on this one or that one. Everything is going well. My pee and blood looked good that they stole from me Thanksgiving week. Isn't that nice? As of right now there are no signs of preeclampsia which is great because I had symptoms this early with Allyssa. I am having hip problems. The doctor said it was a nerve, but it really feels like a joint problem. The doctor is probably right and I just don't know what a nerve problem feels like. It isn't fun. It used to only be a problem every once in a while when I would be walking and would only last a minute or two. Now my back is sore, and I'm convinced that is related to the hip, and it hurts when I lay down (sleeping is not fun), and when I sit sometimes, and especially when I get up. The doctor said that if my hip didn't get better soon (and this was a month ago) that it wouldn't until after I gave birth. Looks like I'm in it for the duration. She said that the uterus or something would be moving and that would either relieve my pain or not. Boo. It didn't help.

Big Tree

The internet was down, so I hope to publish about Thanksgiving still. We'll see. Today is the first day of Advent, so we worked on getting the house Christmasified. Allyssa woke up from her nap to see the tree all put together and lit (we'd been working on it since Friday, so the fact that something was going on in the corner, she knew, but she didn't think anything of it, probably partly due to the fact that the baby gate keeps her out of that corner right now). She walked up to the gate and smiled and looked big eyed at the tree and said, "Big Tree." She probably said "Big Tree" a million times. She just looked and looked. The tree is quite bright. It has 3600 lights on it. That is 36 strands. I strung them all. It took 3 days of nap times. David assembled the tree and hung most of the ornaments. It looks wonderful. Big Tree.
We also got out Allyssa's wooden nativity set (thanks Grandma and Grandpa). She loved playing with it. After supper we lit an Advent candle and gave her Mary, Joseph, and a donkey to play with while we did a short devotion. She thought that was too great. She loved the candle and when it blew out she said "Uh-oh." She wasn't ready for it to be blown out. She kept telling us "Uh-oh" about the candle after supper. Then, she loaded all the pieces from her nativity onto her booster seat because she couldn't see them well enough on the table (we did devos at the table). After a little bit I moved the pieces to the area beside the tree and turned the lights back on. Allyssa happily played there most of the evening. Big tree.

Doctor Appointment

Today I actually got to see my doctor. I am 21.4 weeks along and had yet to see her because everytime I went, she had to deliver a baby (I saw the other doctor in the office and the nurse practitioner every time until today). Things looked good. She said that my hip might bother me the whole time; stretches might help, but not likely; and when my uterus moves wherever it is moving (it is supposed to move at this point in pregnancy) in the next couple of weeks, it might make my hip quit hurting. I have to pee in a cup all day long and have blood taken tomorrow to set up a base line for all my numbers so that later on they can track everything well and make sure I stay healthy. I also am only waiting 2 weeks between this appointment and the next because 22 weeks is when trouble started with Allyssa. Dr. Hunter wants to keep a close eye on this pregnancy (probably more so than if I'd been her patient last pregnancy because she only has what I tell her to help her out, but hey she saved my life, so I'm not complaining or argueing although I don't like the people who take blood in her office, they are rotten). I'm very pleased with Dr. Hunter because (if you've been around me this past week, I'm sure you've noticed) I am very aware that 22 weeks is approaching. I know that things were very different with my first pregnancy, but that doesn't mean that 22 weeks isn't approaching. The good news is that I feel wonderful compared to my first pregnancy. Hooray! Oh and does anyone want to trade me places tomorrow. I'd be glad to let the horrible nurse stab your arm 4 times and get no blood out because he's an idiot. 4 times!! Give me a break!

Nervousness

I am nervous today because I'm returning my Bum Genius diapers to their manufacturer to be exchanged for ones that have functioning laundry tabs so that that the velcro doesn't stick to everything and his brother in the wash (if they don't think that I should get an exchange, I'll be charged with shipping them back to me and I won't get replacements). I waited to send them off until I got my new cloth diapers in. I figured I might as well buy new ones since we are having a second child. I didn't buy Bum Genius this time. I bought Happy Heinys. After a couple of weeks of using Happy Heinys I do have some comments about each type of diaper:

Bum Genius:
The velcro is little and can easily be undone by my daughter.
They clean easily with no staining.
The inserts are easy to get in and don't pop out.
The adjustable snaps work well.

Happy Heinys:
The velcro is big and my daughter has not figured out how to undo it.
They clean easily with no staining.
The inserts aren't as easy to get in and they will sneak out a little because there is no stopper.
The adjustable snaps pop undone when inserting the inserts and when putting the diaper on the child.

Each diaper has at least one con and some pros. I am happy with my purchases but I hope that these 24 diapers get me through the rest of my children's diapering years.

Baby Gate for the Tree

I ordered it online because it was $50 less expensive that way. Way to go Amazon! I also got free shipping! I love Amazon. Now, it just has to get here. I hope that it fits around the tree. Our tree is huge! We got it at 75% off a few years ago at Target's after Christmas sale. It is much bigger than I expected. It is very pretty and I can't wait to decorate it on Nov. 30th. Our neighbor has a lighted wreath up already. Poor guy; he's totally going to miss out on the fun on the first day of Advent. Allyssa is big enough this year that she'll totally see how exciting and fun this is! I'm a little worried of course though because she's big enough to see how tatally fun and exciting this is. That's why we got a baby gate.

The countdown is on

Grandma and Papa are coming for a visit over Thanksgiving week. Oh yes! I'm really excited because mom said she'd clean my silverwear tray in the silverwear drawer for me. Yes, it is one of those tasks that I never find important enough to do to actually do it. It needs to be done though, and who better to do it than a house guest? If I was at her house and she wanted her silverwear tray taken out of the drawer emptied, wiped out, put back in the drawer and re-filled with silverwear, I'd be happy to do it. So bring on the grandparents!! Tuesday they get to watch Allyssa all morning. Hooray! I'm excited about this because the mom who usually watches Allyssa when I have to go to town can't because she's out of town. Also, I get to cook Thanksgiving dinner. You'll never in a million years guess what we are having. I'll give you a hint, you won't be eating it at your Thanksgiving meal. Okay, now that I've got you really wondering...fajitas!!!! That's right! What? Is that unThanksgivingish?? Well, I'm sure the pioneers would have loved some guacamole at their meal. And guess what happens Saturday...all the fall decorations come down. Why is that exciting? Because Sunday is the first day of Advent, duh. That means 3000 Christmas lights are going up at our house, and that's just the tree!! Note to self: Really get on the ball about buying that baby gate thing that goes around a Christmas tree...times a wastin'!

I'm gonna get one of those signs

that say "No trucks beyond this point" and put it on either side of my house. Stupid trucks making lots of noise waking up my daughter from her nap tick me off.

To my mom...

...who laughed at me while I dug a formerly clean diaper out of the toilet...
My daughter tired to learn to potty on the toilet. It worked for 8 days. 8 wonderful, mommy proud days. Then she got sick and potty training went out the window and clean diapers, sadly, went in the toilet. Now that Allyssa thinks she's allowed in the bathroom, when I've got clean diapers on the couch to be stuffed (cloth diapers for those of you who are confused), she steals one and runs off to the bathroom. I try to strip her and put her on the toilet, but she'd cry once she got up there. So off she'd go and I'd put a clean diaper on her and clean the pee off the floor. I bought a little potty chair today thinking maybe it would save me. A chair is much lower and she can sit on it herself. She wasn't a fan. Stupid chair. There were only two options at the store, green or pink. I picked green so that future children could use it and not think it is girly. Calling my mom, I told her that I didn't think Allyssa liked it because the seat is hard plastic and cold unlike her potty seat on the big toilet with is soft and cushy. She actually asked to sit on the soft and cushy one, but still didn't pee in the potty.

Well Mom, you'll be here in less than a week. I'll let you get the diapers out of the toilet. :) And if you could teach her to sit on the little potty chair and actually pee in it, I'd be very pleased. Have fun with that....

Note to self: Leave town next week without Allyssa. Hahahahaha.

This week

Allyssa has been sick. She has bronchiolitis or something like that. I think it means that it isn't full blown bronchitis. Anyways, she got it because of her allergy to the smoke from the sugar cane burning. Poor baby doesn't do well with that. We try to keep her inside when it smells like the whole valley is bar-b-queing, but it seeps through the windows and walls. She gets a cough and runny nose right away, and this time it just kept getting worse. She's been quite crabby this week. Who wouldn't be? A friend of mine has a couple of kids who were also sick this week, and she said that her kids are taking extra naps. Allyssa doesn't do that. She takes the same amount of naps and they might even run short because coughing will wake her. She wants to run around and play, but then she feels bad and no toys make her happy but napping is not a good solution either. Oh well...it is getting better. She hasn't had a fever in a little over 24 hours. She is coughing much less, but her cough still sounds horrible and you can still hear her breathe.

Other than that, nothing new. It got cold this morning. It was 41 when we got up. Allyssa got to wear tights for the first time ever to church! She looked so darn cute. I took a picture, but of course I don't have it off the camera yet, so you'll have to wait.

Potty Training: Not all roses

Today is a thorn day. She asked Daddy to take her potty this morning, but didn't want to stay on the toilet and promptly pooped in her diaper as soon as he put it on her. Then this afternoon she asked me to take her potty and she wouldn't let me put her on the seat and then refused to put her diaper back on. After 10 annoying minutes (I hate bathrooms), I finally fanagled enough to get the diaper back on her. Oh well. Tomorrow is a new day.

Stupid Sugar Cane

Allyssa is allergic to the smoke produced by the harvest of sugar cane. (When they harvest it, they burn the fields making it smell like the whole valley is bar-b-queing.) She gets a cough and a runny nose and doesn't feel well at all. Stupid Sugar Cane. They need to come up with a new way of harvesting it.

4 times!

Today Allyssa peed in the potty 4 times!!!! The last time was so cute. I went to the bathroom (not her's a different one) and at first she cried, then she realized that she needed to go too, so she tottled off to her bathroom and patted on the potty seat until Daddy got her ready to go. She must have thought, "Oh yeah, Mommy, me too!"

Another Potty Update

Allyssa peed 3 times in the toilet today!!! Two of those times, she told us she needed to go!!

Potty Training Update

Allyssa has been such a big girl. We started training on Monday. Every day since then she's either pooped or peed in the toilet at least once. Yesterday it was twice! AND the second time she told Daddy she needed to go and then actually went! Today, she's already gone to the potty and she actually walked to the potty and asked to sit on it before she went! What a big girl!

Snack Time Problems

Today was the second day in a row that Allyssa's daddy has come home 10 minutes before snack time to eat a brownie in front of Allyssa. This is the second day in a row that Allyssa has not eaten a snack at snack time. This is the second day in a row that I have to find another time of day to make supper. I do not like Allyssa's daddy having lunch meetings that puts him home 10 minutes before snack time.

Toilets and Voting

Haha. That's funny. Okay, but really, Allyssa peed in the toilet today, and I voted. Together, we are very productive.

Time Change Is Stupid

In talking with my sister today, I was reminded that not everyone agrees with this fact. She doesn't. She doesn't have children who are born yet. I must say, when you do, Cristy, you'll share my opinion. That is why I call it a fact. Allyssa wanted lunch early. I gave in at 11:15 and she ate what she could before falling asleep eating. Poor girl. She doesn't do that normally. She slept very well for her nap. Then had a fun day, but still got hungry and tired before supper and bedtime. We gave in a put her to bed 15 minutes early. Poor girl was so tired. Hopefully it will get easier tomorrow. Seriously though, I could do without time change. I understand that some events need daylight. I don't understand why this is an issue. Just schedule those events during daylight hours. Works for me. If I could, I'd operate on one time the whole year. Really I would. Unfortunatly, life doesn't work that way. Too bad I don't live in one of those areas that doesn't change time. I know that those areas exist, but I don't know where they are. Maybe I should find out before I wish myself there.

POOP

Today I started putting Allyssa on a potty seat on the toilet. She loves it. The first 3 times and the last time, nothing happened, but the fourth time...poop!! Hooray! One less poopy diaper! Let the games begin!

Me and the baby

Now you can see what I mean when I talk about my big belly! This was taken Saturday. I might have grown since then.

Trunk-or-Treat

My MOPS group had a Trunk-or-Treat at the Church of Christ in Harlingen. We had a great time. No one there laughed at my costume, but David got a huge kick out of it when he saw me all decked out. David and I had a great time watching Allyssa have fun. She watched all the other kids and tried to figure out how to play with them. She didn't have much luck figuring that out. She doesn't seem to want to be an observer. She is a little dare devil, but right now she is more of an observer than not because she is so little and can't figure out how to do the neat tricks that the big kids do. Her time will come. She loved her lollipop and a wonderful grandma gave me a couple of little bags of animal crackers so that I could bribe the lollipop away from her. It worked. She loved the bouncy house. Sadly we couldn't get a good picture of her HUGE smile, but here is one of her in it anyways.

Our Costumes

Halloween Fun

Allyssa had a great Halloween! She played with play dough, but she wasn't really sure about it. It was her first time to play with it. She mainly wanted to put it back in the container. After a while, she was distracted by the basketballs which she loves to try to shoot at the basket. Then we played with glow sticks that she got at Mack's birthday party.

Halloween in a new town

A little over a year ago we moved to a new town that has a very different culture from the town I grew up in. Tonight after getting home from a lovely Trunk-or-Treat (more on that later), we turned on the porch light to invite trick-or-treaters to our door for candy. I opened the window shade so that I could see what was going on out there. As I did 15 very small children and a couple of adults walked passed our house without stopping. I seem to remember this happening last year, too. Very sad. It bums me out. Why don't they come to my door? Is there a special thing I need to do besides turn on the porch light? When I was a kid, that was all it took. Most people in town also know this as the pastor's home. I know that the interim pastor who was here just before we were didn't like Halloween, but I don't know about the pastor before that. Maybe that is why they don't come. Maybe someone gave them boring candy before. Maybe I need a big sign that says, "Hey! I've got Snickers and Hershey's and Twix among other yummy candies!!" Maybe the littlest kids need a sign that says "Play dough here!" Oh well. I guess I do get to eat some candy. I'm still sad though.

Reformation Day

My poor husband can't wait for this day to be over. You'd think he'd like Reformation Day; I mean, hello, he's Lutheran. Nope. Reformation Day for him inconveniently falls on Halloween every year. I personally think that he totally didn't trick-or-treat enough as a kid or he'd think it was great. I've never asked him though. Maybe he trick-or-treated against his will or caught on fire one year because he got too close to a burning pumpkin. Who knows? Either way, my husband insists that he won't be a kill-joy and will humor my love of candy--I mean Halloween, seriously though, I don't care what it is called if candy is involved. And how convenient is it that we bought Halloween candy for trick-or-treaters when we won't be getting home tonight until after Allyssa's bedtime. Unfortunately, David has solved this problem and we will simply turn on the carport light. Less candy for me, more candy for kids in costumes. However, if we do get really little kiddos, I have little tiny play dough for them! How fun is that?!! I'd be so excited if I was a 3 year old. Yay for Kohl's! Allyssa gets to celebrate, too. She gets to dress up as a Crayola and go to Trunk-or-Treat at the Church of Christ in Harlingen. That's where we go to MOPS. Hopefully she'll like it. We'll see!

BOY

Half-way

Using Allyssa as my guide, this pregnancy is already about 1/2 over. What better way to celebrate than finding out if this baby is a he baby or a she baby?! You'd better get to voting because we find out tomorrow. That's right. Tomorrow!

My big belly

Allyssa likes to find my belly button now. I think her discovering it has to do with the fact that my belly is big, and she noticed. I'm huge, y'all. I'm shocked. I haven't even gained that much weight (only 6 pounds more than what my normal weight should be), but I'm HUGE. My first trimester is over. I'm around 17 weeks or so. My first tri wasn't bad, but my second isn't going so great. Allyssa was like that, too. I haven't thrown up in a few weeks really, but I don't feel good a lot of the time. I threw up with Allyssa more and more as the pregnancy went on, so I'm hoping for a differnt pregnancy this time. My sister thinks I'm going to have a girl because I'm not super tired. I'm not sure if that is a very good indicator because with Allyssa I was exhausted always. I have a different type of job now, and I think that that makes a world of difference. And my definition of "super tired" might be skewed. Ask any mom of a 16 month old and she would say that she is tired. I go to bed at or before 10 pm and try to never wake up the next morning. For some, that might indicate "super tired." I have noticed that my forgetfulness has increased in an amount proportionate to my big belly size. I expect it to continue that pattern. I've forgotten what I'm doing, so I'm going to stop for now. Have a great day!

Sunday Afternoon thru Tuesday Morning

...we spent at Allyssa's godparents' house in Houston. We had a great time and unfortunatly took no pictures which I'm very sad about. Allyssa enjoyed having another kid to "play" with although she is a toy theif, so really she enjoyed having another kid to steal toys from. Goofy girl. Caleb loved watching her move everywhere as he is 7 months old and learning to crawl. He's pretty fast though. I realized how quickly time flies while there. Honestly, I don't remember that stage of Allyssa's life. It was only 9 months ago that she was his age. For me, that is a good thing. While there are parts of every stage that are not my favorite, I must say that the infant-pre-walking stage was very hard for me. Once Allyssa was able to walk and say a few words, I found myself to be very relieved. For once, I knew what my child wanted at least some of the time. Caleb was so wonderfully happy. I really don't remember Allyssa smiling as much as Caleb who also never seemed to cry. What a wonderful baby!! We has a great time visiting and had a few new experiences. I'd never played Wii and got to play for the first time there. We also got to eat this wonderful chicken that Kati gave me the recipe for. I can't wait to make it. And meatloaf. I don't make meatloaf. Kati does, and it is great! She had bar-b-que sauce that we could eat with it. It was a new flavor for me and was wonderful! They also made brownies that had frosting on the top (David mentioned to me that that was quite a treat as I never put frosting on brownies. He also made sure that I knew that she put it on a 1/4 of an inch thick, which was the right amount. :) ) and bananas foster or something like that (obviously I've never had it since I'm not sure about the name). It was really good and a special treat. It was great getting to visit with Kati because I hadn't gotten the chance to talk with her much because we've never lived very close to one another. Mike and David got to play volleyball together. They love playing sports together, so that was great. All in all it was a wonderful trip!

Coloring Today

I hung Allyssa's picture up, but she didn't like that. She wanted it down so that she could wave it around more. Everytime she noticed it she would point and fuss. I want to save it, so I'll have to hide it and let her color something else.

Coloring Today

Vacation in Sept: Vandercook Side

Sept. Vacation: Vandercook Side

Vacation in September: Drachenberg Side

This seems so long ago...so much has happend since vacation, but here are a few photos from my parents. I hope to get more from vacation up soon.

The List of Already Dids

Somedays a list is needed of the Already Dids just to let a SAHM know that even though there is much to be done, much has already been done. Here's a list from this week (things are missing, this is what I remember doing):
1.) Homemade Refried Beans made
2.) Cookie Bars made
3.) Countless loads of laundry (okay it could be counted, but I can't remember, there were diapers multiple times, towels, Allyssa's clothes, whites, darks, lots of stuff)
4.) Supper and Lunch made everyday (we eat cereal for breakfast)
5.) At least 2 loads of dishes washed everyday (see #s 1, 2, and 4 for why)
6.) Living Room, Den, Allyssa's Room, Our Room, and hall vacuumed
7.) Kitchen floor mopped (the part that really matters anyways)
8.) Toys picked up
9.) Food picked up
10.) Trips to the grocery store and Walmart
11.) Baby Shower attended
12.) Dentist apt.
13.) Phone calls made that weren't "personal" calls
14.) Changed bed sheets (WOW!)
15.) Stuff moved out of Allyssa's new closet before vacation finally found new homes
16.) Organized maternity clothes some more

I'd say that that is pretty darn good.

Trip up north/sick baby/PWR

We had a great time visiting everyone "up north." (Saying that it is North is wrong for many of the people living in the USA, but if you live in the Rio Grande Valley, everything is north, as is North Texas, where we went.) We saw Grandma and Papa (my parents) and my sister and her husband. Allyssa got to play with my sis's niece, Hannah. David went to Lubbock for a Tech game with my Dad. Grandma, Cristy, and I played with Allyssa while they were gone. Allyssa loved tromping around outside and playing with the dogs. She loves dogs. Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's (David's parents). We wore Allyssa out with a trip to the zoo. The next morning she threw up her eggs. Who knows why? My dad says it was the change in climate. Who knows? We thought that she was okay and it was just because I put her on a rocking horse an hour after she ate. Maybe she's not good with rocking horses, right? So we went to the Arboretum. We pulled her around in a wagon, so she didn't have walk. She LOVES the wagon. That night we went out for Mexican food at David's favorite place to go (and mine, too), Abuelo's. Allyssa ate really well. That night around 12:30, she threw up. We called our doctor, who is really a CPNP, but whatever. She is pregnant, too so I felt bad waking her, but she was the one on call that night. She said that she figured it was something Allyssa was eating, so it was okay to travel home. She was very tired the next day (we were planning on leaving that day). She slept a lot of the trip. She didn't eat much, but she did eat lunch, which she threw up all over me in a gas station in Corpus. I feel bad for the attendant who had to clean up with bits of mac and cheese. Poor guy. We both got a change of clothes, and got back on the road. David thought that a trip to our Night Clinic was our best option, so we passed our home and headed farther south. We made it to the NC before anyone else, which is good because it is first come first serve. Allyssa had a finger prick and strep test. Then they checked her ears for an infection. Bingo. Infection in the ears. She also has some drainage that is going to her tummy making her vomit. She threw up two more times before bed. This morning, no vomit. Yay! She isn't eating or drinking enough. We have lots of beverage options for her, but she's not interested. We let her wag around her sippy cup, but she's not drinking much. She ate breakfast okay and took a nap right away. Then David got home from a meeting just as she was waking up. He watched her while I ran to the store to get some fruit, milk, and bread. Allyssa eats fruit well, so we hoped it would help. Then, I was off to the doctor for my apt. David wanted to come, but we couldn't leave Allyssa with anyone with her feeling so bad even though she's not contagious, the doctor said so. My doctor had to do an emergency C-section, so I had to wait to see the other doctor. She's great. She helped deliver Allyssa and stopped in to check on me when she was in the hospital while I was staying there after Allyssa's birth. Then, off to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription I couldn't get last night for Allyssa. When I got home Allyssa was already down for her nap.
Tomorrow, I'm supposed to leave for PWR (Pastor's Wives Retreat). It is in La Grange. That's a ways north, too. I'm looking forward to going, but feel bad because Allyssa's sick. David still wants me to go. We'll see tomorrow if she's feeling better.

Big News

We finally got to tell our families, so we are ready to tell you. We are expecting. We are due on April 3. I am really nervous about this pregnancy because the last one wasn't the best in the world. I'm hopin to make it to the middle of March, which would be wonderful. This pregnancy is already different than my first. For one, my stress level is lower. I have no major life changes this go around, well excpet baby number 2 coming. I feel pretty good. I'm tired, but not too tired. We did have a scary couple of weeks back around week 6 or 7 or was it 8??? We thought that I'd lost the baby, but the baby is fine. Besides trying to deal with the obvious, one really hard thing during that time was that I was not allowed to pick up Allyssa. She was such a trooper and learned to walk well. I just kept telling her, "I'm sorry sweetie, I can't pick you up right now, you'll have to walk." She'd seem to understand and do just that. What a big girl! I wasn't officially told that I can pick her up now, but my bad symptoms are gone, so I do pick her up some, but not as much as I did before. We are almost 12 weeks along now. I am already showing, which bothered me for a little while. I didn't show with Lyssa until I was 5 months pregnant. At 6 weeks, I could already see the difference. I guess my body knew what to do. (And yes, we do want our children this close together. This was not an accident, and we are very excited!)

Allyssa's Room

We moved 13 days prior to Allyssa's birth, so setting up a room for her wasn't something that we could do. We finally got to get some paint up, and, well I'll let you be the judge! We'll have more pictures after we get stuff up on the walls and everything.

It was a cool 65 in the morning yesterday, so...

She's over a year old, so it is time to put her to work!

Goofy Girl!

I had been hiding this toy for a day when Allyssa was tired of her toys. When she got it, she was a little too young for it and hurt herself with it, so I put it up for a while. It is a centipede that sings. She LOVES it. And she sits on it!

More from Sept. 11

September 11th photos

Best Day EVER!

That's how I'm feeling about the last couple of days. The weather is...amazing...to say the least. Can you believe that it is one in the afternoon and only 88 degrees?!! Did I die and go to heaven or what!? I've been trying to spend as much time as I can with Allyssa outside. That's where the sad part comes in. Seems like the mosquitos love Allyssa. On her left calf I counted 13 bites while she was playing in Aiti's bed outside this morning. 13!!! Dumb bugs. They eat her up! This morning David gave her Band-Aid Brand bug bite ointment stuff, and that didn't work, so he put hydrocortizone cream on her; that didn't work. So he gave her Benadryl liquid. That was before 8 this morning. He let me sleep in for about 45 minutes this morning, so when I got up and ready for the day, I noticed that she was scratching. I got the sample that the doctor gave me of some prescription bug bite stuff out and put in on her. Then, I told David that I did it. He told me that he'd already put the other stuff on her and given her Benadryl. Guess she was doctored up. But it wasn't helping. I got her down for a nap and then gave her a snack. After that we were off to Wal-mart to get some Aveno bath stuff. She was doing okay when we got home, so we played outside a while. Then she started scratching, so we were off to get her in the bath. After the bath I put her in some soft pants so she couldn't get to the bug bites as easily and to keep the carpet from rubbing on them. She's done okay since then. We haven't put more ointment on her, but before her afternoon nap we did give her Benadryl in hopes that she'd sleep for a couple of hours. I hope to get some pictures up before she wakes, but we'll see. I've got to plan supper for tonight and for Saturday next week when I'll be at PWR and David will be taking care of Allyssa alone for 2 whole days!! That's the first time I'll be away without her for any length of time, so...well, more on that another time.

For Cristy, Congrats!!!

A while back I attempted to post lots of pictures of things that I used with Allyssa (I never finished posting stuff, sorry), but I never said the reason why I decided to do that. My sister is having her first in February! She found out yesterday if it is a boy or a girl, but you'll have to read Jay's great comic strip to find out!
I just read this post and laughed. Here ya go, Cristy!
Taken from Fried Okra
Ya'll know I would NEVER, but still, it's fun to daydream on occasion.

1 - Tape Mama's eyelids open.

2 - Tape Baby's eyelids shut.

3 - Tape pacifier in Baby's mouth. If Baby must have pacifier to sleep, why won't Baby stop shootin' it outta mouth like a cheap plastic "cork" out of a bottle of cold duck?

4 - Tape blanket onto Baby, who requires no less than straight-jacket-tight swaddle for sleepage but can wrestle arms loose in 2.9 seconds flat and immediately go into hysterics because "MAMAAAAAAAAAAAA! HEWP! MY ARMS! DEY ARE MOVING AND I CANNOT MAKE DEM STOP!"

5 - Tape other household child(ren)'s mouth(s) shut when Baby finally falls into twitchy, nervous-looking sleep that probably won't last longer than it takes Mama to get down to the kitchen and hastily grab a spoon and a tub of Nutella.

6 - Tape other household child(ren) to wall to guarantee child(ren)'s continued quietude and safety as Baby miraculously sleeps through Mama's frenzied Nutellafest and Mama sets sights on first shower in three days.

7- Tape over doorbell. Stupid doorbell! No shower for Mama this time. Splattered Nutella stuck in Mama's hair will have to wait until the weekend.

8 - Tape waist and legholes of Baby's diaper. Mama's desperate, but even in desperation doesn't want THAT kind of shower.

9 - Tape over & Lights part of Sound & Lights baby monitors. & Lights often confused for Hellish Angry Red Lightening in parents' sleep-dazed heads at 2:30 AM. Scary nightmares!

10 - Tape mailbox shut. Hospital bills from Baby's birth making Mama and Daddy cry harder and sleep less than Baby.

I don't think I remember a nicer day

It was down right cold this morning (65 degrees). I made Allyssa put on pants and a jacket to go outside. Now, I can't wait for her to wake up so that we can go play! It is 88 degrees!!! Did you hear that??!!! I don't remember 88 degrees since February but I also remember that it was very windy in the spring. Not so today. It is beautiful! Thank you cold front!

Brand Aversion

Allyssa either has a brand aversion or doesn't like canned carrots anymore. The ones I first bought for her were Hill Country Fair brand from HEB and they were low sodium. The next ones I bought were Great Value brand and not low sodium. Of course, I don't want to try them, so I don't know if one brand is better than the other. I was just too tired to peel and boil fresh carrots.

Nap time blues

IS she giving up her morning nap or not? The first two days that i decided no more morning nap went great. She was sleepy for her afternoon nap and slept well. Then she actually went to bed on time because she didn't sleep too late in the afternoon because her afternoon nap was bumped up a little because of no morning nap. Then Sunday came. Sundays are the worst days of the week.
This is how they go:
Allyssa wakes up. She eats breakfast. She plays with Mommy. Daddy wakes up. She plays while Mommy and Daddy get ready for church. Daddy goes to church. Mommy pulls out the guitar and goes through a couple of songs while Allyssa dances. We pack stuff for the potlucks that have happend the last two weeks and thank goodness are over for a while. We pack stuff for Sunday School. We pack a snack for Allyssa and the kids in her Sunday School class. Allyssa gets dressed for church. Allyssa walks across the street while Mommy pushes the stroller full of stuff for the Sunday School Opening, her booster seat for the potluck, the food for the potluck, and stuff for Sunday School while carrying a guitar across the street. We finally stumble into the Annex where the potluck takes place and Mommy can unload the stroller. Allyssa gets set loose because Mommy has no more hands. Mommy gets ready for the Sunday School Opening, gathers Allyssa and goes into the Sanctuary to play guitar for the kids. Allyssa dances with Daddy. Then we head to Sunday School where Allyssa enjoys the lesson and then plays with Mack and Ashton. Then we're off to church. By this time, Allyssa is exhausted. She cries during the entire service, but Mommy has trouble getting out of the pew because Mommy is on the inside of the pew and someone else is sitting on the outside. Mommy finally gets Allyssa outside, but that doesn't fix things. She keeps crying. She's so tired. Finally church is over and we eat and she goes to nap.

After all that, Monday I hoped would be easier, but no. She didn't take a morning nap. She was exhausted. I realised that she wanted one, but it was too late to give her one. She took a nap after lunch at 12:15. It only lasted 45 minutes because she was woken by a loud noise. She would sleep after that, so she was up and cranky until bedtime. This morning, she threw such a fit at about 9 that I just put her to sleep. I hope that she will sleep tonight because that is the problem, she won't go to bed at night because she isn't sleepy yet because nap time was just a little while ago because she wouldn't fall asleep for her nap because her other nap had her rested. Today I get to figure this out on my own because David is gone all day. He is usually home for lunch and puts her down for her afternoon nap, but he won't be home until supper today.

Growing Girl

15 month check up and shots today. She's 29.75 inches and 21 pounds 10 ounces.

I read this recent article in at Parenting and laughed. I might not get Mom-of-the-Year. I give Allyssa the crusts on purpose. I want the insides. When we have toast at supper, she eats my crusts and LOVES is! And why wouldn't she? That's all she's ever tasted! :) Poor baby. Today we ate some peach cobbler. The peaches came from our tree and were a bit tart. Okay a lot tart. I wanted the cobbler bread and I had given her grapes and bananas which are two of her favorites. So I gave her the tart peach part instead of the yummy bread part. She promptly stuck her tounge out like "GET THIS OFF ME!!" I got to eat all the cobbler and she thought she was the winner because she got grapes!!

Cold Cooked Carrots

When my big sister was little bitty, she snuck cold canned peas out of the refrigerator. Personally, on hearing this story, I thought she was nuts. But hey, if that's what a baby wants to snitch, so be it! Now, it is my daughter who is snitching. For some odd reason she likes canned carrots. She likes them so much she snitches them out of the 'frige. Due to the invention of Ziploc containers, she can't get them all by herself, so she carries the container around the house until she finds me and can give it to me to open for her. Silly girl!

Long awaited photos

These pictures are from the past couple of weeks. Allyssa playing outside and in the mud and with Daddy's birthday cake all over herself!

Words!

Every day Allyssa says more and more words. She now says many of her body parts and knows where they are, she knows words about eating and babies and toys and animals. She makes lots of sounds for animals, too. I totally understand her many times, but other people aren't quite cued in always! :)

MOPS

Today was the first day of MOPS for the school year. MOPS is Mothers of Preschoolers. That doesn't mean 3 and 4 year olds like I thought. It means kids not in school yet. I went to one meeting last year and a couple of play groups this summer. I'm excited about it starting up again. Allyssa cried when the lady took her from me and led her into the classroom. I said goodbye just as she was being taken to her room. She cried, but the lady assured me that she'd be playing and happy soon. I decided to let it go and let her go. Sure enough 2 hours later when I got back Allyssa did not even notice when I came in. When I told her hi and she actually looked at me, she wasn't excited to see me or even interested that I was there. After a minute she did want to show me her baby doll (not really hers, but she was playing with it). She cried when we left because we had to leave the baby doll behind. But we got to take pictures with balloons and then take the balloons home for Daddy's birthday!!! She didn't have a nap this morning, so she fell asleep on the ride home (also, we lost her potted plant because I put it on the roof of the car and forgot to take it off, she planted it herself and I'm sad that I lost it). She showed Daddy the balloons and her picture of Boz when we got home. He really enjoyed hearing how she knew Boz's name and surprised her caregivers at MOPS by saying "BOZ!" when they brought her coloring page out. It was a good morning! We topped it off with birthday cake after lunch! Peppermint Poke Cake. Yum!

Hotter than Hot

It is hot here. The past 4 days have been over 100. Yesterday and today were both up to 105. It is hot. I let Aiti in today, and Allyssa loves it! She follows Aiti around and pets her and says "Ai-ti. Ai. Ai."

Allyssa's Attachment

Allyssa is now attached to her blanket and pacifier that she sleeps with. During the past week, this has occured. Now, when she wakes up, she no longer cries for us to come get her. Instead, she plays with her blanket. When she wakes up from her naps, she doesn't want to get out of bed because she knows that the pacifier and blanket get left in the crib. She cuddles for a while in bed while I talk to her. Then she gets ready for a snack and decides that it is okay to get out of the crib.

BOO!!

Allyssa and I played a big game of "Boo!" before her afternoon nap today. She had so much fun. "Boo!" is a game in which Mommy hides behind a wall or a piece of furniture and pops out and says, "Boo!" Allyssa laughs at first and then comes to get me. She laughs so hard that she falls down on the way to find me. Then, she decides that a certain hiding place is the best, so she takes me there and can't figure out why the game isn't as much fun since she's in her favorite hiding place. The problem? I'm in her favorite hiding place too, and can't pop out and say "Boo!"

Bullet hole

While painting Allyssa's new bedroom, we discovered a BB hole in the window. Not to worry, I thought, this was shot from the inside. You see the divet was on the inside, so I thought that was where it was shot from. Not so. The divet is formed on the opposite side of the shot. So it was shot from the outside. So much for thinking that one of the previous owners of the house had a child with a BB gun who made the hole. I hope that it was years and years ago, but there is no way of knowing because the room has been a guest bedroom for over 20 years at least, so even the previous owners probably wouldn't know that there was a hole in the window.

Just when I think that morning nap is gone...

She naps. For the past few days it has taken Allyssa 20 minutes instead of 5 to 10 to fall asleep for her morning nap. I was thinking that morning nap might be ending. Then today when I wondered if she would sleep at all, she fell asleep in 7 minutes. That's great because I wanted to check on Gustav or whatever his name is that is hopefully going to miss us, but not going to miss a lot of other people and I need to clean up the mats that Allyssa plays on in the kitchen that got corn casserole and broken glass all over them when I dropped the hot dish.

Hair brushes and clothes

I'm still not posting pictures, but if you are grandparents you'll see her soon!
This happend this morning:
I got up and got dressed, but I hadn't brushed my hair because my hairbrush was in the wrong room. I went into the kitchen and was telling Allyssa that my hair looked nuts as I got some cereal ready to eat for myself. I asked her to go find a hairbrush for me. She tottered off and found her little baby hairbrush and brought it back to me in the kitchen all by herself.
Then a few minutes later, I was still eating cereal, she started carrying around a pair of Texas Tech shorts. Listen up Papa, you're going to be proud. I played with her for a while with them, folding them and giving them to her. Finally, when she handed them to me and lifted up her leg, I figured out that she wanted them on. I put them on her, and they matched her pink onesie very well. Black, red, and pink. What style! Off she tottered again. This time, she came back with her Texas Tech shirt!!! She picked them both out of the stack of laundry in the living room. Oh, how proud you must be Papa, you have a granddaughter who is a fan as big as you!!!

Poor Baby

For a little girl whose favorite thing right now is to be outside and whose favorite word right now is "Aiti," rain all day is a sad, sad thing. It is also sad to Mommy who can't figure out how to keep her distracted!

Update

Everything here is going well. All of us are sick with colds right now and I've been busy doing things with the Family Ministry Team at church. We are going to be painting Allyssa's room soon! We are so excited! I'm also going to have to start working on David's white stole really soon because he needs in for Christmas. And I'm working on catching up on scrapbooking, so blogging has gone by the wayside. I am looking at your blogs though!

Diaper Giveaway

Baby Cheapskate is giving away free Bum Genius diapers. I hope I win, so don't you dare register, but here is the link in case you do!! :)

Here are some from our house taken during the eye

The tree in our yard barely missed the house. It fell from the neighbor's yard. We think that those neighbors evacuated because one of their cars is gone and we haven't seen them since the day before the storm.

More of the church

These were taken during the eye of the storm which was over us for over two hours before we were hit with the second half of this never ending storm!