Lots of New Tricks

Alexis has been a ball of learning these past two weeks! I feel like every time I turn around she has learned something new! I’m not sure she is ever going to crawl, but she loves walking either with your hands or cruising in her jeep! We’ve spent a lot of time oustside just "driving" around. She has even started pulling up on me to a standing position. On Friday night she learned to pull herself to a sitting position on her own. She was supposed to be going to bed but decided that she needed a little practice with her new trick! I watched her for about 20 minutes while she played in her crib. I just love watching her explore.

Cruising away from Mommy

Happy Valentine's Day Mommy! My new yard art! I've wanted this rooster ever since the new HEB opened! So, Daddy got it for me on V-Day! Apparently it is quite large, but I love it! I promise once it fades and rusts it is going to look awesome!

Helping Mommy with her unfinished project.



She spent one morning mocking me cough! She did this fake cough and I called her out on it and the next thing I knew she was doing it on purpose and copying me! Way too cute!



I've been trying to get this on video for a couple of weeks now. She is very enthusiastic about her noooooos. A possible in sight to our future? I've also been witness to a couple good melt downs the last couple of days. Complete with putting her head on the ground in her hands as if I've just been the meanest Mommy of all time! It is quite dramatic. I wonder where she gets it from??



Yeah Alexis! She pulls this trick out a couple times a day lately. I'm not sure if she is doing it on que or not, but she is pretty good at it.

Happy Valentine's Day

Alexis had a big day today! We went antique shopping, to lunch, to Babies R Us, where she decided it was nap time and then TV shopping. I've said it before, but she is one happy baby and so easy to be around! While we were antique shopping in old Katy we found these old buildings to take her Valentine's Day picture. She wasn't into taking the pictures today and Daddy was just as over it. So, these are the few I got! Thank God she is so easy going!

I'm still praying these eyes stay blue! They are a dark gray, so I'm thinking they may turn hazel like her Daddy. I'm OK with that, I just don't want them to be brown like mine!

So when she was over downtown Katy, I tried to get a few shots at the house. This is right before she fell face first out of the basket! Mommy laughed, she cried! But she got over it quickly!

The last good picture before the big tumble! Notice how much taller she is!

Super Bowl

I've been busy with work, black outs and Alexis this week and haven't had time to post. We had a great time for Super Bowl last Sunday. It was one of the nicest days we'd had in a while, right before it got cold and icy again. We spent the day outside, when we weren't inside cooking and chatting. The kids had a GREAT time. They played with rocks, "climbed" trees and ran races. Alexis hung out in her Jeep and her pack and play. She did have a very unusual melt down at nap time. I actually went running into the room because she was screaming so badly. I guess she didn't want to go down because she knew a party was about to start, but she was so tired!

I love catching her different faces. I want to remember every beautiful face she makes. I think they are all so funny!

She always knows when to turn on the smile!

I didn't do it, I swear!

Check out those two front teeth!

This one just makes me laugh!

We tried really hard to get the kids to pose for a cute picture together. We had to settle for funny faces. At least we were able to mark the event with something. This actually might be the only smiling picture of Cole all day, even with a juice box.

Who doesn't do a tree shoot when they are hanging out? To be fair, I was playing with the manual setting of my camera. What better way to practice than on some of the cutest kids I know?

Anna wasn't into showing her big beautiful smile at all Sunday, but this is still a cute one!

All the kids love Alexis! They all want to help take care of her!

The best we got!

And then some silly faces!

This might be one of the reasons the tree photo shoot didn't turn out so well! But it wasn't all his fault! We also celebrated Cole's 3rd birthday on Saturday. I have no idea why I didn't get the camera out, so I thought I would do a Cole Montage! This kid has some of the funniest faces! His mom thinks he is going through a stage but I think he is really cute. I will admit, he can give a look that could KILL, but it makes me laugh, I know I shouldn't encourage him, but it is really funny. However, if Cole isn't happy every one knows it and he doesn't want you happy either! I still love him more than words can say and I know he had a great birthday.

I just realized that I didn't get a picture of Ryder in here. He was napping for most of the time that I had the camera out, but he was a cutie!

The Big Freeze of 2011

It may have been cold and icy, not snowy, outside, but we still had a good day! We got lots of play time in and had 2 really good naps! First we went to lunch with Aunt Kristi and Uncle Michael, then a Wal-Mart trip and back to playing.

While she was napping mommy started on a project! I'll post about it later, but I've been dying to redo some furniture and we are in need of a new TV and stand for the living room, one that Alexis can't get into. I'm hoping that I can do it myself, but I need practice! I'm really excited about my upcoming projects!

Swaddle Update Day 3: Night two she went down and slept again till 6 in the morning. Night three she played for about 15 minutes and cried for 15 minutes then went out on her own for two hours. Daddy had to go in after 10 minutes of hysterics and soothe her and she was out for the night. I must admit that I have been swaddling her at nap time. She didn't do so well napping this week and I think that weaning her means slowly taking it away, so I'm giving her the security of the swaddle just for naps! Yesterday she took a 2 hour nap in the morning and a little over an hour in the afternoon.

As you can see, she is now fully sitting up in the bathtub! She still loves bath time but likes her toys more than smiling for the camera. Here are the cutest ones I got! I just love bath time because it makes her so happy!

Her fluffy moccasins! She actually kept them on!

All bundled up for her lunch date!

Snuggled up in my cow towel!

Daddy is so smitten!

Peek A Boo!

Here I am!!

We're Really Moving Now

Alexis and I have had lots of Mommy and me time this week. Daddy has been out of town so we have had nothing to do, since it is so cold outside, but to try new things. So, we tried the beef stew, that was a bust! We tried the sippy cup, that is a work in progress and we've been working on going from sitting to crawling. Last night she finally got it! She did it twice! The first time I caught in on camera and when I got the video camera out, she did it again!

She has also been out of sorts this week, not sleeping very well. I've been doing a lot of "Internet" research to try and figure out why she is waking up in the middle of the night and not napping. Baby Center said it could be because she is learning to crawl and she wants to practice it all the time or it could be she is too cold or hot. I'm trying to keep her room comfy but with our house it is so hard to tell if it is too hot or too cold until it is in the extremes!

Last night was the worst night in a long time! I can't even remember the last time I've put her down and she cried! She did it at 2 of her 30 minute naps yesterday and at night you would have thought she was seeing monsters she was screaming so badly! So, I had to finish her bottle and rock her for awhile. If you know me, I've tried very hard to not rock her, but this was a must! So, then I decided since she was calm and somewhat asleep, until I laid her down, that this would be the perfect time to break the swaddle. (I've been fighting this since she is such a good sleeper while she is all snuggled in there!) But, seeing as we should have a snow day tomorrow, this gives me 3 good nights to break it. Wish me luck! After I put her back down she played for a couple minutes and went to sleep. She woke up at midnight and 6 a.m. crying again. Back to the bottle and the rocking at midnight, but I didn't have time to do it at 6 while I was getting ready for work, so she just played. By the time Grandma got there, she was T-I-R-E-D!

Here is how she started going form sitting to crawling. First she found her foot and decided she was hungry!

Then she got busted and thought it was funny!

Next she realized that the floor wasn't really that far away...

Finally to all fours....

And she was OFF!! Still with the military crawl! But she gets on her knees more and in her bed I've been watching her get up on all fours "practicing."

Her Mimi bought her this Jeep Walker. I've wanted it since we registered and the store in the Woodlands didn't have it at Christmas, so she didn't get it! She seems to enjoy it. You put her in there with her cell phone and it gives me an insight into my future!

Beef Stew

So I've been trying out a variety of organic baby foods. I love them because they come in so many different flavors. We added Gerber meats and mac'n cheese last week and she did great, so I thought we would try Beef Stew. To say she hated it is and understatement! She gagged the WHOLE time. Of course, what do I do to make sure I get the perfect picture? That's right, I keep feeding it to her! But in my defense, Daddy is out of town and I needed to make sure he saw this. You just can't explain it, you have to see it for yourself!