Valentine's Day 2011 - Seven

Happy 8th Anniversary

I'd pick you again honey.  I love you.


"Love is what makes two people sit in the middle of a bench when there's plenty of room at both ends."

Christmas - Prettied Up

Do you remember the other day when I posted pictures from Christmas?  But I hadn't had a chance to Photoshop them yet?  Here are a few that are prettied up - Just for you.

Christmas Part 1

For your viewing pleasure, the unedited pictures. (better story to come later)

Here, the girls are seeing the tree decked out with gifts for the first time Christmas morning.

Inspecting the loot

Getting ready to open Santa's present

So excited she had to remove her socks

 

MayLee showing mommy her new puzzle

MayLee opening Santa's present

Santa even got the girls a floor puzzle to share - they got to open it together

Some of the felt food made by mommy

The smoker we got for Daddy that was supposed to be a surprise

Merry Christmas everyone!

Lengthy absence

So, the internet has been a bit goofy at our house lately.  And I can't currently post on my lunchbreak anymore because my computer needs an update to Adobe Flash Player.  And well let's be honest here, I've had other things on my mind than posting.

But I have been thinking about you.  I actually have a bunch of things I want to post eventually.  Random stuff, pictures, rants, etc.

To make you feel a little less neglected, please consider the following.

I felt really off for a couple weeks due to hypochondria.

I had 3 halloween costumes to sew.

I had 2 beautiful girls to play with and be a mommy to.

I had a wonderful husband to spend time with.

And due to the above, we all had a crazy messy house to pay attention to.
I'm happy to say that after a very large effort on all of our parts, the house looks great right now.  But it's a culture shift for all of us.  It's amazing how little messes accumulate without any help and how little messes quickly turn into big messes with nothing more than a slight breeze and a sideways glance.

But we're working on it.  For our sakes and for the girls.  Because though I don't want to care more about a perfectly clean house than I do about playing with and teaching the girls, it's important for them to learn these good habits when they're young and they don't have to figure it out when they have adorable little cuties around to play with.  Can it be done?  You bet your life on it.  Will it be perfect?  I wouldn't even bet chewed gum on that. 

Christmas in our new home

Celebrating Christmas in our new home as a family for the first time has been special. We still have lots of boxes to unpack from the garage, but we're comfortable in our home. Thanks to the help of family and friends, we're good to go. Erik has started painting our interiour walls to warm the space up a little - he doesn't get too many days off during the holiday season, so it's special that he was able to have 3 days straight at home with Mom and Baby Alyson. We woke up this morning at 8:00 am ready to have breakfast and open presents. Erik got the oven ready for cinnamon rolls while I fed Alyson. She started fussing a little, but over the course of the morning, we were able to enjoy breakfast and open presents with our little one. We had a few large gifts this year - we purchased a home and a big tv, but our favorite present is our daughter. We're so glad to have her in our lives and be able to enjoy her smiles and tears as they come.

Alyson slept relatively well last night - ate well and didn't fuss too much. Over the last week or so, she's been a little fussy - we're starting to think that she's having trouble with colic, but while I was researching on the internet yesterday, I started to think that she's having trouble with foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. This means that when I'm nursing her, she's been getting more of the foremilk than the hindmilk that is produced in breastmilk. Foremilk has fewer calories and fat, but helps to quench the baby's thirst so that she will feel full. If she doesn't get enough hindmilk (which gradually comes after the foremilk) she'll become hungry again soon because she needs more calories and will want to eat more. She has to eat more hindmilk to make up the calories that would be achieved with a mixture and ends up with more lactose in her little tummy than she otherwise would. She doesn't have enough lactase in her stomach to break down the lactose and this can create pain and give her the symptoms of lactose intolerance. In order to help fix this imbalance, I'm working to make sure that she eats only on one side per feeding, but it will be a little while before we're used to that approach. This should help her feel better and help her to have longer stretches in between feedings.