Crazy Car Rides

Well, we ended up skipping the rodeo last night. Josh was feeling really run down and thought he might be getting sick. We met Michael and Penne to give them the tickets. We wanted them to be used. We realized when we are in Josh's car, we always forget to move the seat mirror so we can't see Alex. Instead of trying to crawl in the back to see if she is sleeping I usually try to take a pic of her with my phone so I can see if she's sleeping or not. The pictures usually turn out pretty funny!

Just when we had a pretty good schedule down, it all just went away. Our mornings are pretty much the same, wake up around 7, bottle and breakfast around 8, play then nap. Our afternoons are way off. Some days she will nap, some days she won't. If she doesn't nap, she goes to bed at her normal time, 7. If she naps, she stays up later. I've noticed, if she naps for an hour, she stays up an hour later, 2 hours, 2 hours later. It is so frustrating. I love her afternoon naps because I get to get some things done around here, but I also like her going to bed a little later because she gets to spend more time with Josh and we can go out to dinner without throwing her schedule off if we want to. I don't want to have the baby who stays up until 9, I know she needs an afternoon nap otherwise she just starts to melt down around 6:30. I don't know what to do!?!?

The Princess and the Pea

A few months ago while I was shopping with Shannon, I bought The Princess and the Pea for Alex. It had beautiful pictures, so of course I couldn't pass it up! I forgot all about it until I was cleaning up her room today and I found it in the closet! Since we are trying to incorporate at least 1 finger food into each meal, I decided peas would be perfect! Before lunch, we read a little bit of the book...it's pretty long!


While I was cleaning the kitchen and cooking the peas, Alex and Cooper kept me company!

The princess inspecting her peas!
Yummy!!

Today has been a busy day! I had to have blood drawn for my RA appointment next week so I was at the Med at 7am! I figured I could run and do it before Alex woke up that way I wouldn't have to drag both babies with me. The lady who was working was obviously not too happy to be at work at 7am and she took it out on my poor little arm! I am so used to having blood drawn now, I usually don't even feel it, but this morning, man it hurt!! Alex was awake when I got home so we did our normal morning things, diaper change, bottle, breakfast, play and bath. I was a little excited when she started getting sleepy while she was playing. I thought she'd go down for a nap early and give me time to take a quick shower. She did..but only enough time for a shower, no make up or blow dry. Now it's 1:30 and I still have wet hair and no make up on, I guess I better get to that. She and Abby woke up around the same time so I let the girls play while I vacuumed, started laundry and mopped the floor. For some reason I got on a cleaning kick today. Anyway, we are going to the Houston Rodeo tonight to see some cowboy stuff, or whatever they do at the rodeo then Gary Alan is performing! I love Gary Alan...the rodeo stuff, not so much. We went last year and it just made me sad, watching the calf roping and stuff. Those poor baby cows! Josh laughed at me because I got excited for the cows when the cowboys couldn't rope them! I'm sure I'll be the only one in the crowd cheering when the baby cows get away again this year!

Yummy Yummy!

We introduced eggs last week! Well, egg yolks! I tried hard boiling them and mashing up the yolk and Alex was not a fan of them. The next day, I scrambled the yolk and she LOVED it! It gets soo messy because she loves trying to feed herself! Today she had lentils! Again, she loved them! The girl loves her food!

While we were in Dallas this weekend, we bought a jogging stroller! We love our Chicco stroller, but we wanted something we can use on the rougher streets in our neighborhood so Alex's little cheeks don't jiggle nonstop! We went on a walk tonight and and we love the new stroller! After our walk, she was playing on the floor and got into a sitting position from her belly!!! She is such a big girl! She also proved that she is a Mommy's girl! My Dad stopped by today since he was in the area and Alex was playing on her lap and she hit her mouth on his knee and she started crying because she was tired and fussy. My Dad got up with her and I walked over to them and she just leaned towards me with her arm wide open! In the past, she has kinda leaned towards me if she wants me to hold her, but never with her arm wide open reaching for me! Josh was holding her earlier and I held my arm out and she leaned away from him towards me! He tried getting her to come back to him and she wouldn't, she just wanted her mama!

My little munchkin is way off her schedule. Friday, she took her morning nap around 11 after playgroup and didn't take another nap. Saturday, she only took her morning nap, and yesterday she took her morning nap and a little hour long cat nap on the way home from Dallas. Because of that little hour nap she stayed up until 8 last night! She had been going to bed between 6:30 and 7. I thought we were getting back on schedule today because she took 2 great naps! Not so much, it's 8:30 and she is still awake! We've been trying to get her to sleep since 7 and she just screams and cries. Who knows, maybe she just wants to watch Dancing with the Stars!

Besties!

I truly think Cooper would be lost without Alex. They are both so interested in each other. I'm not gonna lie, sometimes it can be maddening because Cooper always wants to be where ever Alex is and Alex can not keep her little paws off Cooper or his toys! Cooper loves standing over Alex like he is her protector. Alex loves petting/pulling Cooper's hair out. Here are a few of my favorite pics of the duo!

The First Meeting

"Love at First Sight" Cooper keeping Alex company during "tummy time"

The love isn't always mutual
Looks like they are up to something!

Alex loving on Cooper!

Best Buds!

The girls and I went to our first playgroup today! They were the babies of the group and had a blast! Alex loved trying to play with the "big kids" toys. She just watched with bright eyes as the kiddos ran around! It's a weekly playgroup so we are hoping it will work out so we can go each week!

We are off to Dallas this weekend to see Grandma and Grandpa Stafin. It's been way too long since we've seen them, we are really looking forward to it!

The Clink

Since Alex is on the move and never stops, I usually put her in her crib for a few minutes I need a minute to get something done. When I walked back in her room today, she and Cooper were making big plans! I later realized what the plan was! Alex is obsessed with Cooper's toys. Anytime he leaves one on the floor, she immediately goes for it and tries to put it in her mouth (yuck!) Today was no different. There were 3 toys around the living room so as soon as I would put one up, Cooper would take another one out and put it right beside her! Little stinker!

I have a feeling we are right around the corner from tooth #1! I can see a little white under her bottom gums and she has been a little fussy. I gave her a paci to play with yesterday so she would stop taking Abby's out of her mouth and she chewed on it all afternoon. She is doing great with little bits of finger foods. With each meal I give Alex a little something to try to feed herself. So far we've done banana, plums and scrambled egg yolks. The girl is getting good! Josh and I both think Alex is going to be right handed. I know it's still kinda early to tell, but anytime we put a puff on her tray she picks it up with her right hand. If I put on one the left side of her tray, she will still reach over with her right hand to pick it up. I have to admit, I'm a little sad about it, Josh and I are both lefties and hoped Alex would be too!

Coming for YOU!!

While we were playing outside yesterday afternoon, Alex set her sites on the camera and wouldn't stop until she got it! It's so cute watching her focus on something then do anything she can to get it! First it was my sunglasses, the camera, the mail I had on the blanket then any leaf that landed on the blanket!

Yesterday we went to Sam's to stock up on formula. I tried something different since Abby isn't a huge fan of being in the stroller. I kept Abby in her car seat and put her in the large part of the shopping cart and put Alex in the top part, sitting up like a big girl. Alex LOVES sitting in the carts! People stop and talk to her and she just smiles and hams it up! Abby did great! She just babbled the whole time! I think we found a new fix for our outings! I am going to start doing afternoon walks with the girls in the stroller so Abby can learn to love the stroller!

8 Months Old!!!

My precious little girl is 8 months old today! I know most moms say it, but she really is the best baby ever. She is very laid back and calm. She is loving her new found independence. She is all over the place. Last night we were in her room lowering her crib and she decided to explore. She went into her closet, behind the glider and was on her way to the bathroom! She is sitting up like a champ now! She still prefers to be on her belly so she can move around. Taking her monthly picture is getting harder and harder because the wiggle worm can not sit still or stay in one place! The dress she is wearing in these pics is one of my favorites! It is the first thing I bought when we found out we were having a girl!

We won't have her next doctors appointment until 9 months, but according to my super sophisticated weighing method (get on the scale without her, then get on the scale with her) she is about 17.5lbs and about 28ish inches long. We are quickly approaching the 30 inch mark, which means she is getting close to outgrowing her car seat! I've picked out her next car seat, but it doesn't come out until later this month, so we can't buy it yet! Today, we are starting 3 meals a day. We are also going from 4 - 8 ounce bottles a day to 4 - 6 ounce. She rarely finishes an 8 ounce bottle anymore so we are dropping back to 6 ounces.

I almost forgot our big news! Alex is saying da da! She doesn't know who da da is, but she says it all the time! If you say it, she will repeat it back (most of the time). It is great because I can now tell Josh when she is talking to herself in the morning, she is calling for her da da!!