Another One Year Ago

One year ago Josh and I stood in our bathroom holding the stick pictured above that confirmed I was pregnant!! Oh, how things can change in 1 year!

We had a big weekend, I made sweet potatoes for Alex and she had her first real food on Saturday! She LOVED them!

First bite, the jury is still out!

So good, she's licking the tray clean!

Saturday night we went to the James' for dinner! It was so much fun because it was baby central! It was us along with 2 other couples. Jen and David have Ashleigh who will be 2 at the end of the month and Luke who is will be 6 months old Wednesday. Alex, Abby and Luke played on the floor for awhile! Luke, always the ladies man, was in between the girls! Sarah and Chris are expecting their little one this summer!

Abby is 3 months, Luke is almost 6 months and Alex will be 5 months tomorrow!

The Family Man

Last night was such a great night! I made dinner when Josh got home, we left the TV off and listened to Christmas music. We have had The Departed for a week and haven't made time to watch it. I decided I wasn't in the mood for it so we watched The Family Man instead. Josh had never seen it and it had been awhile since I had seen it. I forgot how much I love that movie. It makes you really start thinking about all the little things that had to fall in place and decisions you had to make to get exactly where you are at this moment. What if you chose a different path at one point in your life, how different would your life be now? For Josh and I we have an interesting story (for another time if you don't already know it) and we started talking about how different our lives would be if we hadn't both made the decision that we wanted to be together. We both realized our sweet baby girl wouldn't be here and we started tearing up just thinking about a life without her in it. We looked over at Cooper and knew he would be in this world, but not with us. We have so many wonderful things to be thankful for, not just this holiday season, but everyday of our lives.

We thought back to our first Christmas in Wylie and I remembered how we used to sit on the couch with all the lights off except the Christmas tree and we'd just look at it and talk. We get so wrapped up in all the things we need to do now, we don't have moments like that anymore. Josh got up, turned off all the lights and I put some blankets on the floor and we just snuggled (with Cooper beside us) and looked at the tree. We ended up falling asleep for a while. It was a perfect night.

Alex's favorite toy!

Alex has a favorite toy! It is a little horse the Sorensen's brought to her in the hospital! It is so cute, it makes all sorts of sounds and has different things dangling from each leg. The best part is the mirror on the bottom! Like I said before, this girl loves looking in mirrors! We sing "You're So Vain" to her! lol

Today is a Mommy and Alex day! Katie has the day off so Abby is with her! We are going shopping! I need to find a Christmas dress (or two) for Alex. We have so much family we will be seeing over the Christmas holidays, she needs a few outfits! Oh, and of course Christmas jammies! We are meeting Josh for lunch! I was so excited to get our day started, I showered and got ready early. Alex sat in her chair in the bathroom with me. When I was done, I put her in the pack and play so I could change clothes and wouldn't you know it, within 2 minutes she was asleep!

Alex, Nomi and Popi!

While we were at my parents this weekend, some crazy lady came into the house, did something people would call dancing and Alex LOVED it! The crazy lady answers to the name Nomi!

We had a surprise visitor today! My dad happened to be in Navasota for work so he stopped by to see his sweet pea...oh and Alex too!

Alex and Popi talking

She loves staring at people!

Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

We decorated the tree Monday night! We turned on Christmas music and took turns holding Alex as we decorated!

Alex in her Christmas decorating outfit!

Josh making sure the branches look just right before we start hanging ornaments

Alex looking for the perfect spot to hang her ornament!

Our makeshift mantel

The adorable ornaments my sister made!

The Tree!

(I'm a little picky when it comes to the tree...all the ornaments red or mostly red.)

and she looks like...

Josh and I went through some of our baby pictures trying to decide who we think Alex looks more like...what do you think?

Alex

Josh

Jamie

I of course thinks she looks like me! (except for the peacock-esque hair, thanks Mom!)

quick Alex update...after many nights filled with tears and screaming, we decided to stop trying the bottle for good. This headstrong little girl has more willpower than me, I just can't stand to hear her cry and scream. I made the decision to try a sippy cup instead and wouldn't you know it, she likes it! She started off small, only taking .75 ounces and everyday started taking a little more and more. Yesterday she took 2.5 ounces! So the Nuby sippy cups are our new best friend. My goal is to have her take at least 1 complete feeding during the day from a sippy cup in the next week, then every few days, we will substitute a nursing session with a bottle/sippy cup feeding. Oh, she is getting formula in the sippy cup, she refused to take breastmilk in it. If all goes well, she will be completely on formula by the end of the year and I'll be able to start taking the medication I need to help with the RA!

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!