Long Holiday Weekend!

We had such a wonderful 4 day weekend! Terri, Ray and Gram P came down Thursday morning to spend Thanksgiving with us! Josh and I spent the day in the kitchen working on dinner while Grandma and Grandpa kept the little one occupied!

Alex loved sitting on the kitchen counter with Grandma watching us in the kitchen!

After a long day of cooking and eating, I snuggled up with Cooper on the couch!
Alex had a really bad night on Friday. She was up 4 times! Josh got up with her once and she was up for about an hour (at 3am!). The next morning she sat in her high chair while we ate breakfast and I decided to give her a little oatmeal (the baby kind). She LOVED it! We made a huge mess but she was so cute! Her favorite thing was licking the spilled oatmeal off the top of the tray. Then she decided to take the spoon away from me!
Terri, Ray and Gram P left Saturday morning. Cooper was very sad to see them go, he stood by the window looking out for the longest time! :(

After they left, we got ready, loaded up the car and headed to Nomi and Popi's! Jodi, Laith, Hudson and Isabella were in town from California so we wanted to see them before they left that afternoon! Hud and Izzy have grown so much since I last saw them. I miss those kids so much!

Here is the first picture of Alex with her cousins! They are all so beautiful!

We didn't do anything except relax, play cards and eat at Nomi and Popi's!

Eskimo Kisses!

Popi and his little sweet pea!

Cooper, never starved for attention!

Josh and A watching football!

After a long weekend, Alex was so tired, she fell asleep on Josh while we were eating dinner.

We had the best weekend! We got home last night a little after 10! There was a pointsetta on our porch when we got home last night, it was from Dobbie. We have no idea who the heck Dobbie is, but it was nice of her/him to leave us a plant. We are wondering if they left it at the wrong house!?!?

I am soooo excited, we are decorating the Christmas tree tonight! We took everything out of the attic on Friday and we put the tree up. Tonight we get to decorate it! I love Christmas so much and decorating the house and tree are some of my favorite things to do! Growing up we always decorated the tree as a family while we listened to the Chipmunks Christmas album. This is one of the traditions I want to carry on with Alex!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Stafins!

Gram P, Ray, Josh, Terri, Alexandra Rae, Jamie and Cooper

Our first video of the giggle bunny!

Grandparent Gifts!

Yesterday we enjoyed the gifts both sets of Grandparents got Alex before she was born! Alex is now tall enough to sit in her Exersaucer that Nomi and Popi got her! She loved it! Her favorite thing was looking in the mirror! Girl is obsessed with mirrors!

Then I decided it was time to put together the highchair from Grandma and Grandpa! I thought it may help Alex from getting so fussy when we sit down to eat dinner if she feels like she is there with us! It worked for awhile! We got through most of dinner before she got fussy!

Daddy putting together the highchair!

Mommy, Alex and Coopie kinda watching him put together the highchair!

Big Girl in her highchair!

Alex and Coop hanging out!

What I've Learned (Part 1)

So I've realized in the 4 month, 2 weeks and 2 days that I have officially been a Mommy, I have learned so many things that only a parent can know!

I have a rule when both babies are here, if one is eating and the other one gets fussy I keep feeding whoever is eating instead of interrupting the meal, then I tend to the fussy baby. (That rule does not apply to the adults in the house, if we are eating and Alex gets fussy we rock, paper, scissors to determine who gets to eat with Alex in their lap.) Yesterday, I was feeding Abby and Alex decided she was over sitting in her swing. She has started arching her back when she gets upset. So she was sitting in her swing twisting and arching her back. I could see her so I knew she was ok. So I sat there and talked to her while I finished feeding Abby. Within

a few minutes she stopped fussing. After Abby was done, I put her down and checked on Alex only to find out she was out cold. The girl was all twisted and looked so uncomfortable but I have learned: Just because you don't think it looks comfortable, doesn't mean it's not! Since Alex has been fighting naps every afternoon, I decided to leave her and wouldn't you know it, she slept for an hour! So of course, like any good Mommy, I grabbed the camera and took pictures of my crazy baby sleeping! (I love the hand in her mouth!)

Big D!

We had such a great time in Dallas this weekend! We drove up Saturday and Alex was perfect! She fell asleep in her car seat as soon as I put her in it, before she was even in the car. She slept the entire way and woke up when we got into Grapevine. Josh and I went out for dinner and drinks Saturday while Grandma and Grandpa watched Alex. She still refused the bottle! I thought she would take it since we weren't there, but no such luck. She went to sleep at 9, woke up at 11, then went back to sleep. When we got back, she started moving around a bit so I fed her since I knew it had been several hours since she had eaten.

Today we had breakfast with Terri, Ray and Gram P. We are so excited they are all coming in a couple of days (4 to be exact) to spend Thanksgiving with us! After breakfast Josh and I took Alex to Ito and Ita's so they could love on her!

From there we drove out to McKinney to see my girlfriend Amy and her brand new baby girl! Sylvia Marlous Lackey was born Wednesday, November 19th! She is so beautiful! She is just so tiny! It's hard to remember Alex being that small and it was just 4 months ago!

I felt GREAT this weekend! Friday was a really bad night for my RA. I went to the movies and was in so much pain by the end of the movie. I was worried about sitting in the car for 3 hours but it turned out to be ok. Saturday evening and all day today, I felt amazing! No pain at all! I am hoping this will last a while, we'll see!

Being in Dallas this weekend made me realize how much I miss living there. I miss being to close to Terri and Ray, Ito and Ita and of course, all of our friends. I also miss all the great places to eat! We ate at Babe's today, it was just as good as I had remembered.

I am looking forward to Josh's 3 day work week! Terri, Ray and Gram P are coming down on Thursday and staying through Saturday. Sometime on Saturday we are heading to east Texas to see Nomi and Popi! My sister, Laith, Hudson and Isabella are in town from California so we are hoping we get to see them while we are at Nomi's but it is going to be a busy weekend so I'm not sure if it will work out!

Mommy & Alex day!

Katie had the day off so I got to spend my whole day with Alex! I got up at my normal time so I could shower before Josh left. Alex was so good this morning. While I was cleaning up the kitchen she played on the floor. She fell asleep holding onto one of the hanging toys. She is such a cutie! We ran a ton of errands today. We went and got a gift for a friend, Coopie needed food, I went to the mall to get Josh a new shirt, then we dropped the car off to have the oil changed and tired rotated. Josh picked us up and we met had lunch! Then I went and got the car washed and we went up to Josh's office to visit for a while.

Alex has decided she loves eating out at restaurants...if we hold her. She will sit in her car seat for about 10 minutes, then she decides she wants to be held so Josh and I pass her back and forth while we eat. She is such a little pill sometimes, but soo cute it makes it ok!

Roll Baby, Roll

She did it today! She rolled over...well, she got her legs all the way over for the first time! She has been getting so frustrated trying to roll over the last week or so and I usually grab the camera so I can catch it. She fusses while she is trying to do it. Today, I was in the kitchen peeling taters for stew while she was playing on the floor in the living room (I was about 5 steps away from her so it's not like I left her all alone). Anyway, I walked around the counter to look at her because she was just talking to herself. There she was, legs all the way over! I took a pic, then flipped her back so she could try it again!