Christmas Eve Church

We went up North to Lee's family's church for Christmas Eve church. We took up the whole back pew.

Our girl was so tired, but refused to sleep. Thanksfully her dad has strong arms and could sing while holding her.

Whole family shot. I am not even going to mention the members of the family wearing ripped jeans, Carhart sweatshirts or warm up pants to Christmas Eve Church (oh darn, I guess I couldn't help myself).

Lee with his mom, brother and Lulu. Isn't Lance getting big? Hard to believe I met him when he was a little middle schooler...

Family picture.

Belated Blogging

Thanks to her dad...

Lee taught her how to stick out her tongue. She spent about two days with this tongue-curled expression (I called it dumb dumb face) permanently stuck on her cute face.

We got our six month shots. Good thing her dad was there as I am a huge chicken and can't even look at needles.

We even bonded with our Nanny a little. Notice how Lulu's dress kind of matches Nanny's new glasses.

Lots more Christmas blogging to come.

More activities

Our friend, Brenda, came to visit us for lunch.

We went back to the hospital to check in on great-grandpa's recovery. We even hung out in his bed with him for a few minutes.

We went out to eat. Hanging out with her dad.

Poor girl got tired with all of the week's activities. She was sound asleep on Lee's shoulder in the middle of a loud restaurant.

Lucia Claus

We invited Grandma and cousin Jared to out Mommy and Me Christmas party.

Then we went to visit Great-grandpa and Great-grandma. Great-grandpa had a knee replacement surgery last Thursday. GGrandma loved holding Lucia Claus.

Not my baby...

I tried to tell her she wasn't big enough to sit in a high chair, but I guess I was wrong. nanny and Aunt Kers convinced me to let her try it. She loves it. My baby is gone. Sniff...

Lee's Company Christmas Party

Lots of smiles.

Strange, huh? It would be a cute picture with her dad, but Lee was looking away...almost as if he found a TV ina back room of the bowling alley and was watching football. Hmmmm.

Family shot.

Santa and Mrs. Claus were on hand to pose for pictures and to pass out presents. It was a nice event, but she was a little young.

First word-ish

About 2 weeks ago we noticed Lulu was copying us a lot. So we kept saying "dada." She was getting pretty good at and Aunt Kers caught it on video at Haddie's 2nd birthday party.



In the week that followed it went from whispered to yelled (mostly in frustration). Now, we haven't heard in couple of days.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Kers!

Saint. Lucia's Day

So,yesterday was Saint Lucia's Day. Did you celebrate it?

We celebrated by hanging out with the American Girl Kirsten doll.

Okay, sow e may not be Swedish, but we did like the name. I was a Classical Studies major and I always wanted a Latin (as in Italian, not Latina) name. I took a couple semesters of Latin, and I always looked at the characters names during class to see if any were cool enough to name a child (other options were Scintilla, Porsinna, Caluprnia, Polita or Lucretia, etc). I also like that it means light.

Update: We are on day 4 of sleep training tough love style. Thursday night the girl went to bed around 8pm. She woke up screaming at 10:44pm and we let her cry it out until she wore herself out. The last heard from her was at 2:02am. It was a long 3 hours. Friday night she went to bed about 8:30pm. She woke up yelling at 10pm. I didn't think I could take another night of screaming, and thankfully I didn't have to. I didn't hear from her from 10:30 until 7:30. Saturday night we put her down around 8pm and I didn't hear her until 6:02am..Hurray! I think she gets it.

Secure in his manhood

The other day (I know, I know, I am a little tardy), Lee and I decided we needed to put the lights and ornaments on the tree. The girl was a little crabby and Lee asked, "where is that thing?"

I replied, "oh, the Baby Bjorn? Sorry, it is in my trunk."

He said, "no, the other thing. I saw it in the dining room the other day."

Me: "Oh, the sling? You want to use it."

He sure did. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I hadn't see a male wear a hotsling. It fit him well and she was perfectly content. He was a pretty good babywearer. He even used it again a couple of night later. I don't think it states that it is explicitly for women, right?

The girl liked the lights.

She and Lee weren't very helpful, but they liked being in on the action.

Baby's first Christmas. I know she won't remember it, but we will have the pictures to prove it. I hear next year she will be pulling all of the ornaments off of the tree. Ugh.

Going Crazy

I am currently at minutes 22 of listening to the girl scream. I can barely take it. She decided to nap for 30 minutes this morning after getting up at 1:30am, 5:30am, and finally at 7:30am. So I tried again this afternoon. I don't know how people let babies cry it out. (now minute 23) I might slit 'em.

She is on a sleep strike and I don't know what to do with her. 30 minute naps are not the norm for a 5.5 month old, right?

The thing that blows my mind is that she is so wonderful and happy while awake, but then...try to get her to take a nap and she turns on you...

These are pictures from after the 2+ hour battle. 2 hours of crying can take the cute right out of your face. I know from experience; she gets it from my side.


I think this is her victory smile (haha, I am not in my crib, mama. I showed you!)

Family Bonding.

We spent lots of time with Lee's family during Thanksgiving week.

Uncle Lance and daddy spent some quality time with me Saturday.

Lulu got to hang out with her great-grandma and great-grandpa.

Sunday we went back out to the farm for more family bonding. Lulu saw a horse (with grandpa on it) for the first time.

I think her look says, "mom, what is this thing? What am I doing out in the snow? I am confused, help me."

Lance, Lulu and Lee.

A reverse of the Mikele favorite...setting the baby on things. Her grandpa never even woke up or realized that we had set her on him or taken a picture.

And it begins...

...Daddy's favorite time of year...the part after Thanksgiving and before New Year's (AKA the "official" Christmas season).

Uncle Lance came home from New Mexico to visit. He hadn't seen the girl in person since the end of July. He thought she was a little heavy to hold after a couple of minutes. She really liked him. No crying or scared face at all.

Friday the whole clan went Christmas tree shopping. Lee and the girl checking out some options.

Grandma, Lance, Grandpa and Lulu finding the perfect tree.

In the end we settled on a 7 foot Fraser Fir. What does that mean to me? A tall green one with short needles. Please pardon Lee's scruffiness. He and a few buddies from work grown beards from Thanksgiving to New Year's. Lee not being very furry got a head start; he started at Halloween.

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for my back. It is a lot better, but not 100%.