At the lake

We are at my parents house until Monday. Josh is in Las Vegas :( so I decided instead of sitting home missing him, I decided we'd visit my parents. I was a little nervous about making the 3.5 hour drive by myself with Alex and Cooper. I mean, anyone who knows me knows I can not take any length of a road trip without taking at least 1 potty break. How was I going to run in for a quick potty break with the baby and the dog. Luckily, no potty break was needed! The drive was perfect. We left a little after 10am and got here about 1:45. Alex slept the entire time! I never heard a peep out of her. She is usually pretty good in the car, but she never sleeps the entire time. We got here and Nomi started the spoiling! Alex got 3 new Halloween onesies. I can't wait to see her in them. The drive must have worn her out because she woke up for about an hour then took another 2 hour nap on her Nomi.

Cooper was so excited to see Stony and Annie. Annie and Cooper are best buds. Stony is an old stick in the mud and just gives Coops friendly growls. Poor Cooper had to stay inside most of the day. His very forgetful Mommy has forgotten to give him his flea and tick stuff for 2 months now so I didn't want to take any chances him being outside too much. He was outside for about 5 minutes and within a few minutes of being inside I found a tick on him. Sorry Coop, unless I can get something tomorrow, it's inside for the weekend!

My Dad and Aunt Pam got here this evening and we had dinner then everyone loved on Alex. She turned into a little fuss bucket so Nomi and I gave her a bath and she calmed down. It took her a while to go to sleep (maybe because of the 2 monster naps today) but she finally fell asleep around 11. Mom and Aunt Pam are scrap booking nuts. There are 3 tables set up in the living room with TONS of supplies. I would love to start scrap booking, but I don't know where I would keep all of the stuff you have to have. Well, I'm sure you don't have to have it all, but it sure looks like more fun when you have all the gadgets!

We are going to Canton tomorrow. I'm excited because the weather is supposed to be great! I don't really have anything in particular I am looking for, but I'm sure I'll find a ton of things I just can't live without!

Our Weekend!

This weekend was great. We relaxed most the majority of the time. Alex let us sleep in on Saturday. She fell asleep around 10:30 on Friday night and slept until 6:30, then went back to sleep until about 10! I could not believe it! (She made up for it by staying awake most of the afternoon and evening!) One of Josh's friends, Patrick, came down to visit Saturday night. He has a Ducatti and loves taking day trips so he rode down Saturday, got here in time for us to go out for barbecue, then headed out Sunday after breakfast. Sunday we relaxed again! We went to the James' for a yummy dinner of bratwurst! Abby was awake when we got there and actually stayed awake more than she slept. While we were eating dinner, Alex was in the swing and Abby was napping on her Boppy lounger then Alex started getting fussy, then Abby started getting fussy. They both looked surprised to hear another baby crying. Alex kinda looked around to see where it was coming from, then they started fussing back and forth. I was the only one who thought it was cute, which I guess is a good thing since I'll be watching them both starting in 2 or 3 weeks!

Our weekend was pretty uneventful...except for a trip to Wal Mart. Let me start out by saying Josh hates going to Wal Mart, but we needed 3 random things and knew they would have all 3 so we decided to go. I was coming down an aisle and turned onto the center aisle and a lady with her kid, who was maybe 3, was stopped in the middle of the aisle. So I patiently waited behind her to keep going. She decided to back up, right into Alex's stroller and had the nerve to turn around and say, "You could have told me you were behind me." To which I replied, "You could have not stopped in the center of the aisle." I went around her and she called after me saying, "Well, you're just a rude little bitch." I kept walking and Josh turned around and said, "You do not talk to my wife like that." (he was so cute sticking up for me!) She replied, "Well I'll talk to you like that." Josh said fine, talk to me like that, just don't talk to my wife like that. Anyway, the whole thing got me thinking. 1. What kind of example was that lady setting for her son. I mean, he was old enough to understand what she was saying, but she didn't seem to care. 2. What am I going to teach Alex to do when she is confronted by someone like that. Just walk away to stand up for herself? I'm not talking about fighting, because if she is anything like me, I'm sure she will be kinda wimpy. I don't know, I guess I have some time to think about it.

We (being Alex, Cooper and myself) are very sad. Josh is going to Las Vegas on Friday and taking his 3 managers. We haven't been to Vegas since last year, about 2 weeks after we found out I was pregnant. He is leaving Friday morning and coming back Monday night. I know he is going to have so much fun, but I am a tiny bit jealous I can't go. I mean, he gets to eat at Fat Burger and he is staying at the Rio, which I love! I decided we are going to visit Nomi and Popi so we aren't home alone. I am so excited about it. It is Alex's first trip to their house. My Aunt Pam and Uncle Jaime will be there too, so I'll have lots of helpers! We are heading to First Monday on Saturday since the weather is supposed to be nice, then Mom and Aunt Pam are scrap booking the rest of the time. I may use this as time to work on Alex's announcements. I'm horrible, she is almost 3 months old and I haven't sent them out yet. Oh well, better late than never!

Alex is smiling so much now! She will break out a huge smile anytime she sees us or if we talk to her. She is also a little obsessed with a yellow and red Sassy lion we have on her swing. She will stare at it then just start smiling at it. Then she make a little chuckle/laughing noise. I don't get what is so amusing about it, but she sure loves it! I'm grateful it keeps her occupied while we eat dinner! (oh, the picutre above was taken while Josh was singing and hopping around, Alex found him pretty darn entertaining!)

Sucker!

So I think Alex is going to be a thumb sucker. Earlier this week she started sucking on her hand all the time. I wake up and hear her on the monitor sucking on her hand. She hasn't found her thumb yet, but I think it's only a matter of time. She is also starting to put herself to sleep. If we lay her down while she is still awake, but sleepy, she will coo and babble to herself then fall asleep after a while. Of course, this doesn't always happen, but it is happening more and more. I could just sit there and listen to all of her adorable sounds.

I've been really bad about holding her all the time. She usually naps on me. This week I have made it a point to lay her down when she falls asleep during the day. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I realized she usually stays asleep when I put her on the Boppy. I think it's because it still gives her the feeling that she is being held. I know sleeping on the Boppy is a huge no no, but I never leave her alone while she is on it. She is always in the pack and play in my sight. When she falls asleep while she is eating, she always holds on to the burp cloth like a blankey. I can't get over how cute she is! Speaking of my cute little girl, it is 10:00 and she is still awake. She woke up at 6:15 this morning and has only taken a few short naps totaling about 2 hours. Hmmm, maybe she'll sleep good tonight!

My Little Cutie Pie!

Here are a few pictures I took of Alexandra yesterday. She is getting so big! She has officially grown out of her newborn clothes. She is wearing most of the 0-3 month clothes and some of the 3-6 that run small. I think she is on the verge of outgrowing the size 1 diapers. They leave red marks on her chunky thighs.

We are starting a night time routine with her. She seems to be doing well with it. We start sometime between 7:30 and 8:30...she gets a bath, dressed in her jammies, snuggle and feeding with me, then she gets snuggle time with Josh where she usually ends up falling asleep. We keep her in the living room with us until we go to bed. If she happens to wake up during the living room to crib transition, I change her diaper and feed her one more time. We are still working on our bottle problem. I decided we are going to give her 1 bottle everyday so she can get used to taking one. So far, the Dr. Browns are a no (but I may try them again because I have the most of those), Playtex Drop Ins: no, Medela: big fat NO, and Avent: yes, with some work. She took 1 ounce Monday, 2 on Tuesday and 3 tonight. I gave her the bottle the first 2 nights and Josh did it tonight. I need to get this little one used to taking a bottle from other people otherwise we are never going to be able to leave her. Not that I want to any time soon, but still, it would be nice to know she isn't going to starve if I'm not there!

Look at all those rolls and that belly! I could just eat her up!

Perfect 10!

Alex slept 10 hours straight last night! Woo hoo! I was so excited. I guess she wore herself out with her fuss-fest on the way home last night! I figured she would be awake most of the morning, but she hasn't been. She woke up at 7:30 this morning and fell back asleep in her swing around 9 while I was washing bottles. Now if I could just work up the nerve to turn off the music on the swing. I'm worried if I turn it off she will wake up...I guess I'll just stick it out in swing music hell until she decides to wake herself up!

You are my Sunshine

We had such a great weekend, but we are so glad to be home! Two trips to Dallas in one week is too much! I had such a great time at Amy's shower. She is so freaking cute! Seeing her and the other 3 pregnant ladies make me miss being pregnant.

We went to see Ito and Ita Saturday night after a yummy dinner at Buca with Terri and Ray. For as long as I can remember, my Grandpa (Ito) has called me Sunshine. He now calls Alex Little Sunshine. The picture above is Ito and his Sunshines! I love it! I love seeing my grandparents with Alex. They love her so much. Ita can calm Alex down like no one else.

This afternoon, Alex got to meet the Stafin side of the family; Gram, Uncle Ray, Aunt Tiffany, Uncle Jay, Aunt Tina and the cousins, Little Ray, Sabrina, Dilan and Sam. Sam is the closest to Alex in age, he is two. He is all boy and such a cutie! It felt like the drive home took FOREVER. I think it is because it was still light when we started and dark by the time we got home. Was I ever ready to get out of the car! It didn't help that around Waco, Alex started getting fussy so we stopped so I could feed her and she decided the car seat was not her friend. She pretty much fussed off and on the rest of the way home.

We are home now, relaxing. Cooper has taken residence on his couch and Alex has claimed her spot on her Daddy. On a bad note, Alex is pretty much refusing bottles from anyone. We tried 2 different bottles this evening and she took maybe half an ounce (but I think most of that ended up on the burp cloth). I guess I need to start trying different bottles to see if we can find one she likes. She used to have no problem taking the Dr. Browns, but now she decided she isn't a fan of them. I had a little talk with her telling her she needs to start taking a bottle, because if she doesn't she will never be able to spend a day away from me. We'll see if that little pep talk worked. I guess until she starts taking a bottle again I need to freeze smaller bags of milk...I am not going to spend my time pumping if she is just going to refuse the bottle. I hate seeing my pumped milk going down the drain!

Well the Cowboys game is almost over so we are heading to bed. Night night!

Mommy's Little Helpers

We are off to Dallas again tonight. We decided to leave tonight instead of tomorrow since we are horrible about getting up early and leaving. I blame Alex! We have never traveled in the evening with Alex and that is usually her fussiest time. We'll see how she does!

Last night I was cooking dinner and Alex was in the kitchen with me. Cooper was sitting pretty beside her hoping he would get some pasta! It's kinda difficult to make dinner when you have a 60lb. dog always at your feet. I think his goal is to trip me up in hopes that he will get something I drop! He really is smart!

Alex is doing great. She is starting to create her own little schedule...and I use the term loosely! She gets up around 8 AM to eat, then she usually goes back to sleep for an hour or 2. During this time I run around like a mad woman trying to get stuff done. She wakes up around lunchtime (for me) and stays awake until about 3 then naps again until Josh gets home. Once Josh is home she is usually up until she falls asleep in someones arms...between 8 and 9. We keep her in the living room with us until about 10 or 10:30 then she gets one last diaper change and feeding before she goes down. She is still up once a night around 3 or 4. Hopefully, this will stick for a while, but who knows!