New Hair Cut?

I got a new haircut right before Christmas.  I'm still up in the air about it...I had to fix a lot of it myself so its not very good right now, but I tried styling it this way...What do you think??

First Word??? AH! So Happy!

Every day I read Alexis a book, or if I can't for some reason, I count her fingers with her and her toes, and point out body parts, make descriptions, etc.  Anything to get her learning.  I have read that its very important to start young and just work with your baby everyday.  Alexis has been actively doing her baby talk since she was 5 weeks old.  She's almost 2 months old and already all she wants to do is have you talk to her and play with her.  It's the cutest thing.  Everyone who holds her and plays with her she coos and tries to mimic the way your mouth moves.  If you blow her a kiss, she tries to pucker her lips the way you just did.  Well all of this has led to something unbelievable!  Alexis has been so fussy lately because she is teething and we've been trying to soothe her as much as we can.  One of the things that I always say to her when she's upset is "Mommy's here, Mommy loves you."  We got home from Grandma's yesterday and she was so upset and wouldn't stop crying, so I laid her on the bed and was putting stuff away to grab her and Kort was trying to talk to her and make it better when we both heard, "mommy" clear as day.  Of course the rest was just crying but we both distinctly heard her say mommy.  I know that this isn't really possible so it might have just been her crying so hard that it happened to come out, but I am still counting this as her first word :) because she said mommy!  I am so happy!  Kort says it doesn't count because her first word has to be something that she can consciously repeat and not something she said in an upset fit.  He's just saying that because he works with her everyday and says DaDa and he swears that will be her first word, lol.  Regardless, I'm so  elated I thought I'd post this because this is definitely something that's going in her baby book!  Woohoo!

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to stop and say...Merry Christmas!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and all of your kids enjoyed the spirit of Christmas.  :)

We went home to St. Anthony for the holiday to visit with my parents and it was wonderful.  Alexis had a great first Christmas and we took lots of pictures.  My parents couldn't get enough of her and they played with her the entire two days we were there.  She had an awful tummy ache the second day because my Dad thought it was cute to let her lick a chocolate dipped cookie Senia made.  She was loving it of course.  I kind of flipped out but he stopped and said he wouldn't do it again, but the whole time he was telling her he was her favorite Grandpa and that if anyone ever upset her to tell him so he could put a stop to it, lol.  It was pretty cute.  She got so many gifts even though I told everyone not to worry about it since she's just a baby and can't really enjoy the gifts yet.  Plus the most wonderful gift was to have all of my family together and celebrate and have all of Kort's family together and celebrate with them too.  We had to split up the holiday but it worked out great.  We're having New Year's here at our house with Kort's siblings and his parents, so we're looking forward to celebrating the arrival of 2010 with them.  Time has just flown by!

Annual Christmas Show!

Every year, Kort's family puts on a big production we call the Christmas show.  Since his family is so big it lets all of the extended family get together and share a meal, mingle and we bring in Santa for the kids.  It's always a lot of fun and we put on hilarious skits and video tape it all.

This year we didn't have too much time to prepare because of everything that's been going on and Matt didn't fly in from school until Saturday afternoon.  So we just did one small skit - Abracadabra by Sugar Ray.  It was hilarious!  I did the boys' makeup and everyone loved it.  Alexis sat on Santa's lap with Mommy's help and received her first present.  It was so cute.  She wore her cute little santa suit and of course looked so adorable.  It was a very fun weekend.

6 Week Check-Up.

I went to my doctor today for my 6 week checkup.  Everything looks great and I'm healing nicely.  I have another week of healing before Kort and I can enjoy each others company again.  Honestly, I'm pretty afraid of getting back into the swing of things.  I just keep thinking its going to hurt pretty bad.  I'm the biggest wuss when it comes to pain.  Really.  

Everyone at the doctors office was so great with Alexis and they kept saying how beautiful she is.  It felt really nice to have so much attention focused on her.  One of the nurses took her and played with her while Dr. King checked me.  I have to wait another two weeks until I can get my IUD put in because of the holidays.  I've researched the IUD and I know its the way I want to go, but has anyone had one?  What's it like?  Symptoms, side effects??  

Holiday Cards.

We took pictures for our Christmas cards and let me tell you, it was interesting.  Alexis was so cranky she wouldn't hold still and wouldn't stop crying.  We finally put a pacifier in her to get her to calm down.  So when you receive your card, yep...she has a pacifier in her mouth. Lol.

I finished all of our Christmas shopping early this year.  It was pretty difficult.  You don't think having a little baby would make it quite a challenge to just do some grocery shopping, but man was I wrong.  I had to leave her with her Aunt Tracie for an hour so I could go to the store and get food.  It's amazing how much you DON'T get done around the house and with yourself.  I swear the first time I've put on makeup in a while was when I went shopping with Yesenia last Saturday and for the pictures.

We bought Alexis a little pink mobile that vibrates and has music.  We are going to get her a swing for Christmas too.  She loves her little mobile.  She stayed in it for over half an hour without making a peep.  She was so relaxed looking at everything.  It was so adorable I had to take more pictures.  We're going to make holiday cookies and brownies today.  I decided my New Year's resolution is going to be - cook more.  I want to learn to cook well and make yummy meals.  I'll tackle baking after I get cooking down :) Wish me luck!

YAY!

We got our rebate check yesterday! Bye Bye debt :)

Football Day.

Today is football day! Alexis is being watched by her Aunt Tracie and her cousins Kayla and Tasha. Our team is barely winning and the Saints are tied with the Falcons so it's a good day so far. I'm hoping the Saints lose, we win and the Colts win. So far it's going good. Crossing our fingers for positive outcomes!

Update...
YAY!  We win.  Patriots finally stepped it up in the 4th quarter for a change.  Man, if we'd have lost a third game in a row, we would've been super bummed.  The Colts won and the Saints too.  It wasn't what I wanted, but good for them.  It feels nice to have your team be successful so I can imagine there are a lot of fans out there having a great Sunday because of it.  All in all, a very nice weekend.

Teething?!

I think Alexis is teething.  I read that they don't start teething until three months, but she always has her hand in her mouth and she is drooling.  I thought she was hungry so I tried to feed her but all she did was bite down on me, so I put my finger in her mouth and sure enough she just wanted to suck on it and rub it on her gums.  She did that for several minutes and never got fussy.  Usually when she's hungry and we try to put anything in her mouth other than a breast, she'll suck for a few seconds and then start wailing!  I think we need to buy her some teething rings already. 


Alexis has been so good for the second day in a row.  She slept for four hours at a time two nights ago and last night again for three and a half hours so I actually got some sleep!  It feels so good.  She has been awake longer so I get to play with her and now she giggles.  Its the cutest thing.  You wouldn't believe how much your heart melts and how teary eyed you could get when you're kid does something that is because of you.  I had her down on her belly and I was playing with her and reading her a book, and I rubbed her back and was tickling it and she just started to giggle.  It was only for a few seconds but at that moment, I realized why they say there's nothing like being a mom.  Having your own baby to love and care for is the most wonderful experience.  I just didn't think or believe that anything could ever feel like this.  She's so precious.  This picture of her is when she was two days old. She's gotten so much bigger in such a short amount of time.  I am reminiscing already!

5 Weeks Old.

Geez, time is going by way too fast.  Alexis is five weeks old now.  I just can't believe it!  She's just started to giggle.  I play with her and its the cutest thing.  She smiles so big but then lets out the cutest little giggles.  And last night was the first night since she was born that I was able to sleep for four hours straight.  I had to wake her up to feed her.  It was wonderful.  Then after that she only woke up once more at 5am.  I hope this means she'll start a good sleeping pattern and for more hours each night.  

Kort came home yesterday after work and was playing with her, and he started tickling her.  Well, I told him babies aren't ticklish at her age, or at least don't show the signs of being ticklish, but he was doing it anyway.  Alexis didn't know how to react to it but her face would scrunch up each time and she would let out a fart!  It was hilarious.  We couldn't stop laughing.  I told him to stop because somehow I thought it was mean to continue on when we know she didn't know how to react, but then I thought, how is that any different to doing it when we know she'll laugh??  I guess its just me, but just watching her facial expressions was priceless.

BRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

We woke up this morning and it was freezing!  Our furnace keeps tripping.  It turns itself off and the heat light blinks as my house becomes an igloo.  We just bought the house and now we have to submit a warranty request to have them come fix it.  Until then, I have to watch the temperature and make sure it isn't off.  I keep it pretty warm in here since we brought Alexis home and I can tell the minute it starts to chill.  I guess this will be a good time to see how our warranty problems will be handled :).

I have some errands to run today so I'm going to buy a tray of hot chocolate and hand it out to the homeless.  I feel so awful for them having no place to go, especially in this weather.  I would love to give money, but I honestly don't feel comfortable doing that.  What would you do to help???  I have a bunch of old hats and some coats that I'm giving to the salvation army and some shoes too.  They're not the warmest but they keep the feet covered.  It's in weather like this that I wish I had a lot of money so I could help more!  Well, I guess we all just have to do what we can.

Have a great day everyone and keep warm!

Metallica!

Kort and I bought tickets to see Metallica back in April of this year.  Well, on Monday we finally got to go.  It was amazing.  It was a little tricky because doors opened at 5pm and the concert was over at 11:30pm which means that I had to drop off Alexis at my sisters at 4:45pm and we picked her up after midnight.  That was over 7 hours of being away from her!  It was a long, wonderful night but boy did I miss her...and my breasts did too, lol.  I was so full of milk (something I didn't think about 8 months ago when we bought the floor tickets!) that I had to go the restroom and express milk into the toilet!  It was so embarrassing even though no one knew what I was doing, but I was still bright red when I got out of the bathroom.  But back to the concert, it was awesome!

We were right up front so we took lots of pictures and video and the bands interacted so well with the audience.  James Hetfield was so good at getting the crowd rev'd up and even though he's like 50, he's still so good.  His voice was impeccable and Kirk Hammett was kicking some butt on the guitar.  His guitar solos were insane!  It was cool to see Robert Trujillo bouncing around all over the stage too.  And Lars was so good at interacting with the crowd from his drum's stage.  At the end of the show he came down and high fived as well as the rest of the band.  Wow.  I'm still thinking that Brad Paisley is the best concert I've ever been to, but Metallica is right up there with him followed by Megadeth.  I am so lucky that I've gotten to see both Megadeth and Metallica in less than five years.  :)

One Month Old!

Ah! I'm so excited.  Today Alexis is 1 month old.  :)

She is so beautiful and has such a cute little personality.  I swear at times I think she looks at me and is rolling her eyes at my baby voice.  She is our world and Daddy and I are so happy to have her.  We really can't believe its been an entire month already!!!

We received her social security card in the mail this week and we also received a letter stating we can order her birth certificate now.  I sent the check today.  I should get it within the next couple of weeks.

All of her newborn clothes are outgrown now and as you can see in the pictures, her cheeks have just exploded.  She is just so adorable!!

(Gushing Mom alert)

She is already lifting her own head and her neck muscles are getting stronger.  I get to go out today and buy Christmas presents and I'm so excited to get her her first Christmas gift from Mom and Dad.  This is such a special holiday and I can't wait to share it with our beautiful Baby Doll!!

Idiocy - Party of One.

I locked the keys in my running vehicle!  Yes, you read that right.  I'm officially an idiot.

I forgot that my Malibu locks itself once you turn on the car.  I went into the garage, put all of my stuff in the car, got the stroller in the trunk and turned on the car to warm it up so Alexis wouldn't be cold.  The minute I got out of the car, I saw the door closing and I couldn't believe I just did that.  So now I have a running vehicle in my garage, with my purse and cell phone in it.  I had to text Kort from the computer and he called his Dad and now he's coming to open it.

What a day!  Alexis is oblivious to the whole situation and is happy as can be. :)

FINISH! UGH.

I'm so upset with my team.  I get that you're losing by three possessions in the fourth quarter, but you DO NOT just give up!  We had five minutes remaining and Tom Brady sits out the game and lets out backup quarterback finish it up???  What the hell is up with that!!! Ugh.  For one of the first times ever, I am so incredibly disgusted by the choice.  Finish the damn game.  We're always saying how its a 60 minute game, and then they give up?!  I am starting to see what it feels like to see your great team become not so great - not because of lack of talent, but lack of commitment to finish the game.  We've overcome a three possession deficit with so little time remaining.  What is wrong with this picture?

Sincerely,

Frustrated Patriots Fan

Thanksgiving.

I am so thankful for everyone in my life.  All of my family, friends, and everyone who does good things for good reasons.  I'm thankful for all of the food we were able to consume, the warmth of our home and our hearts, and the ability to celebrate freely.

Thanksgiving was great.  It was a little stressful but all in all, a great day spent with family.  I took my little sister to see New Moon yesterday and she loved it.  I really am glad I was able to share that with her since I know she wouldn't have gone to see it otherwise.  All of our food was fantastic and celebrating my Kort's family and mine made things even better.

Black Friday - we slept in and did absolutely nothing but watch New Moon and enjoy the company of family.  No shopping, no headache.  It was great.

Today we are setting up our Christmas tree and getting the lights up on the house.  It's a lazy day, watching movies, hanging out with Alexis, taking Matt to the airport and just enjoying the company of my husband.  I really am a fortunate person! :)

Hosting? What Am I Thinking!

Kort and I thought it would be a lot of fun to have all of our families over for Thanksgiving dinner at our new home.  We thought it would be a great way to have everyone together for the holiday and to have our first holiday with Alexis here.
    
What we didn't factor in was that we would have a newborn baby girl who doesn't allow us to sleep more than a couple of hours at a time, much less pick up a messy house, do laundry, wash dishes, go to the store and buy all the products we need, prepare a dinner and host an event as big as Thanksgiving!  Honestly...what were we thinking?!

In my attempts to get ready to go to the store and buy the items we need, I was getting Alexis ready and she just looked so darn cute I had to take some pictures of her.  So needless to say, my blog is full of pictures of Alexis.  I don't think I will ever stop taking pictures :) she's my world.

Fight Face.

Hahahahaha....

I just can't help but take pictures of Alexis.  She makes the funniest faces.  I keep trying to take a picture of her when she smiles but she does it at the most random times.  I never get to the camera fast enough.  Then when I do get it she gives me these looks that are so funny.  She definitely has my nose - poor girl.  But even with that little bit of misfortune, she's still so cute!

Proud Mama

Sleep. What is it like?

My sweetheart hasn't been feeling well. She's been so gassy and she cries and it breaks my heart.  She tries so hard to pass gas but just can't get it out and I try to help but it's not been working as well as I would've hoped.  My pediatrician told me to alter my diet and see if that helps.  I may be eating foods that are making it worse for her.  So I'm buying some medicine to help her out and altering my diet.  Since she doesn't feel well she doesn't sleep very much which means I sleep even less and I've forgotten what it feels like not to be exhausted.  I need her to feel better so we can both get some sleep.

Fun Day Out.

Today was a great day.  We took Alexis to her Aunt Tracie's house and Kort, Me, Senia, and Lionel went to see New Moon.  It was a fun day out and the movie was good too.  Of course I knew I would like it even before I saw it because I love the books.  And I still think Edward is so handsome and rugged :) and did I mention hot?? Kort was such a good sport watching me ogle the gorgeous men in the movie.  I do have to say, throughout the whole movie, I couldn't stop thinking about my little girl, if she was okay, hungry, if I packed everything she needed, etc...  It just gets me thinking, what occupied my mind before she was here?!?

Thursday was my Mother-in-Law's birthday so today we took her out for dinner at Famous Dave's.  It was so yummy and we had a great time hanging out and letting Grandma visit with Alexis.  She smelled so good because this morning she took her first shower with her Daddy.  Her umbilical cord finally came off and her belly is healed so we decided to take her a shower and let her and Daddy have some bonding time.  She loved it!  And its funny how curly her hair is when she gets out of the shower but as soon as I comb  it out, it goes straight.

My Baby Doll is doing so well breastfeeding now that we finally introduced the bottle.  I liked having Kort give her food while I cleaned up the kitchen.  It's been such a long time since I've actually been able to clean my house.  The last time I vacuumed was exactly one week ago and I've been having a bit of a fit about it.  So tonight, I was able to run to the store, get diapers, come back, clean up the kitchen, take a shower, and straighten up the house a bit while Kort loved on Lexi and fed her.  It was very nice.  Of course I still had to pump the milk but it was nice to get some stuff done.

2 Weeks Old.

My Baby Doll turned two weeks old yesterday, so we had to take her to the pediatrician to get her check-up.  She has gained almost a pound in one week and grown a whole inch!  She weighs 7 pounds, 15 ounces and is 22" long.  She's in the 35th percentile.  She's doing so good. :)  Funny story too...I took off her diaper to put her on the scale and while I was getting her a new one, she peed all over the table and the nurse had to clean it all up.  The worse part was that she kept on peeing and we couldn't get a diaper on quick enough, lol.  I felt so awful but thought it was funny too.  Needless to say I had to bathe her when we got home because there was pee all up her back.  My little girl.

This morning she lost the remaining piece of her umbilical cord!  We were so excited.  Although in all the excitement I, again, didn't get her diaper on quick enough and she peed on our bed!  I always use the changing table too but I was talking to Kort as he got ready for work to finalize our plans for the day, so I thought it would be fine to "quickly" change her diaper since its just pee.  Geez.  She's finally fitting into the little newborn outfits we have for her and she's exceeded the 100th diaper.  Such milestones! :)

Well, that's all for now.  Here's some pictures of Lexi with both Mommy and Daddy.  And one picture that I thought would be cute and go with her "accident" stories.  We couldn't be prouder!

2 Year Anniversary.

  Yesterday was our two year anniversary and we celebrated by going out for dinner.  Grandma Pam drove out here to take care of Lexi while we went to Olive Garden.  As usual it was delicious and it was nice spending a couple of hours with my husband.  We talked and looked at pictures of Baby Doll on the Ipod and just thanked our lucky stars that we've been able to achieve so much in so little time.  We've been together for almost four years and really it seems like its only been one.  We usually go out to the Melting Pot for our special events but because I am breastfeeding Lexi and we haven't introduced a bottle, we could only be gone for two hours before we had to be back.  The Melting Pot always takes our entire evening so we decided to stick with one of our favorites that was a bit closer to home.  We didn't get each other anniversary gifts, instead we settled on going to the Metallica concert as our gifts even though we bought the tickets in April.  It was weird being away from Lexi for even that short time.  I missed her and couldn't wait to come home and be with her.  We ended our evening with a little family time, talked, and cuddled.  It was a great way to spend our day.

So Darn Cute!

Alexis has been so fussy lately but Grandma Pam holds her and she's in heaven and sleeps for 3+ hours! Thank goodness for families help.  She's also been so darn cute too.  She makes the most beautiful faces and puckering of the lips.  Yesterday I took some pictures in the outfit that Abuelita got her.  She was so good and let me position her and would smile for about five minutes then she was done.  I just can't get enough of my sweetheart!

Tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary and we always make reservations at the Melting Pot for special events, but this year because I can't leave Alexis, we are just staying home.  I'm just starting to do okay with breastfeeding so introducing a bottle and leaving her with family may not be the best idea.  Plus I think she is getting sick or something because one of her eyes is all gummed up all the time and she sounds like she's congested.  Her two week checkup is on Wednesday so if she doesn't get worse, I'll just have her checked then.  I've taken her temp and she's good there, she's eating fine and sleeps well, and her eye is less gummy too, so I'm not too worried anymore.  Man time flies, it definitely doesn't feel like we've been married for two years!  We're so excited!

Breastfeeding. Ouch.

I have heard that breastfeeding can hurt if you don't do it right, but never, EVER, did I think it would hurt this bad.  Baby Doll and me and have been working on latching and getting it down, but man are my nipples sore.  They bleed and just when they start to get better, she starts suckling the nipple again and it hurts!  I am going to be going to breastfeeding classes and see if there's something more that I can do to help me and her get it right.  It just hurts so much at this point that I'm contemplating just bottle feeding her my breast milk.  I just bought the Ameda Double Electric Pump and I've been pumping after her feedings so that I can keep up my milk production for her since she keeps falling asleep and only gets enough to make her happy for the moment.  

I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but never did I think it was going to be this painful.  I guess that's just the sacrifice you make for having such a beautiful little princess to love on.  She's almost lost her umbilical cord too so that's really exciting.  I can't wait until we can take a shower with her and she and Daddy can have some bonding time :) too.  

One Week Old.

Yesterday Alexis turned 1 week old.  Already! We have been so busy trying to get a routine going and its been really tough. Turns out breastfeeding is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Tuesday was her first doctors appointment and she did so well!  She now weighs 7 pounds!  She's still 21" but her head grew, lol.  We also had to pay the lactation consultant a visit yesterday because every time I would try and feed her my nipples would bleed and I was so sore that I would start to cry from the pain.  I knew I was doing something wrong so we went to get help.  The lactation nurse said she's a "sleepy baby" and doesn't suck properly so we would have to teach her.  She worked with us for an hour and Alexis did so good!  She caught on to what she's supposed to be doing and I learned how to hold her properly so she doesn't tug on my breasts and hurt me.  Of course last night was pretty frustrating because we are still learning but already I've stopped bleeding and I feel a lot better. Lansinoth ointment has been my best friend these last couple of days.  It does such a great soothing job.  Kort also was so supportive and has been helping me stay motivated and tries to calm me when I break down and cry.  He's been with me to all the appointments and is doing everything he can on his end to make sure I'mm as comfortable as I can be and that Alexis getting enough to eat.  He's been making all the meals and taking over when I need a break.  It's been so great to have that support.  I can't imagine it any other way.  But I will say this, kids are HARD work.  Pregnancy for me was an ordeal, labor stunk, tearing and the subsequent bathroom drama is awful and now my issues trying to breastfeed just tops off my list of why one kid is enough for me.  I sure hope I come back and read this blog if I ever think of having another! : ) But I sure wouldn't trade having her here even if I had to do it all several times again.  She's perfect.

First Bath.

We took Alexis a bath and she was so good! I couldn't stop laughing at her little expressions. She purses her lips when we try to wake her up and she's not ready to and she gives you this face that is just adorable. She sure has a cute little personality already.  Getting to know your baby is such an experience.  You start catching on to all of their needs by their touch, the look on their face and their cry.  Like, out of nowhere she just starts wailing and suddenly stops.  It's only for a few seconds and it usually means she's ready to be fed and her way of letting me know.  But its the cry itself that's distinctive.  If I don't pick her up within a few seconds after that and feed her, she really starts crying as if someone just pinched her arm and won't let go.  Already I hate hearing her cry like that.  It just breaks my heart when her chin starts to quiver and she screams that particular scream.  Other than that, she usually doesn't cry or fuss too much.  And so far she's a great sleeper!  She wakes up three times, once around 12am, 3:30am, and 7:30am.  I'm glad we're getting a routine going because now I know what to expect a little more and I don't wake up every half hour to check on her and make sure she's okay!  

After the long weekend of visitors it was nice to have a day to ourselves, well mostly. We were able to really play with her and love on her.  It was great.  I feel like I can't get enough of her!  Kort says the same thing.  We just love our Baby Girl so much!

Family Pictures - will continue to update.