Christmas Time, I LOVE IT!

I think that most normal people would have gone crazy by now if they had listened to as much Christmas music as I have! I love it, I can't get enough of it. I have to watch every Christmas special that comes on, and I am trying to indoctrinate my eight month old with Rudolph and Frosty and all of this holiday cheer. The only movie that Michael really likes is the Grinch, because he can relate to him so well, but hey, I'll take it. Last night the original Grinch came on and he was actually excited about watching it. Usually he drags in the living room with a book when a Christmas program comes on because I force him to watch it with me. He does love the Christmas cookies and candy that go along with Christmas though, and unfortunately so do I. I have probably already gained three pounds already, and I am not finished yet!!!

It is really a good thing that Allie's memory span only lasts for about ten seconds, because she has already seen most, and even played with some of her Christmas presents. Atleast I know she will like them right. I cannot wait to let her "open" her presents. She is going to look at all of us like we are crazy, but it will be fun anyway!

Allie and her Cousins

These boys love their little cousin. We always have "visitors" in church who creep next to us on the bench not to sit by Uncle Michael and Aunt Dana, but by little Allie. I put my hand over Allie's mouth in church when she was talking and told her to be quiet and Adam, the youngest said "Dana, don't do that." I can already see that when Allie gets in trouble she is going to have her little defenders running to her defense.

Allie and Grandpa

We spent the weekend with Michael's parents so that Michael could go hunting on their property, "yes he killed him a deer!" These pictures were taken at about 10:00 p.m. because Allie wasn't going to miss out on any of the fun. I just thought this was too cute because if you know Allie, she doesn't cuddle up with anybody but Mommy and Daddy very often!

Crawling Away

A littlle video of Allie Bug Crawling!

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Allie's Number One Goal in Life: Pulling Up!!

Every chance that Allie gets, she is pulling up. I put her in the middle of the floor, and immediately she starts scoping the room, trying her darndest to find something to pull up on. She is getting really good at it too. This morning she pulled up on my bed, me, on her old bassinet (yes, I still have that thing up in my room), and me, the end tables in the living room, me, the couch, the rocker, me, and did I mention me? I am so excited that she is learning how to do all of these things, but it is sad too to see my little baby growing up so fast. We went to Wal-Mart today, which would NOT have happened just three months ago because she would have pitched a holy terror fit. She sat in the buggy and just smiled and played with me. She is just getting so big and I am loving her more and more every day.

What a Weekend

We were blessed to spend our Thanksgiving in Florida this year. This year was the first time in seven that Michael and I have ventured down south for the Thanksgiving holidays. We usually do Thanksgiving with Michael's family and Christmas with mine, but we just had to take advantage of the four days that Michael had off of school and visit my family that we haven't seen in a while. We met our new little nephew Nolan, who we already love and adore. He is just precious! We got to see all of our other hoodlums down there (Bayli, Layne, Emma, Jake and Luke), but we missed Makayla this weekend. It is always so good to see Ninny and Pa and all of their offspring, also known as my brothers and sisters, and their significant others. Man we just had such a good time. Allie still isn't sure about all of the people down there who just want to hold her and love on her. She just gives them the look that says, you can look, but you can't touch! I am hoping that during our Christmas break when we have a little longer to stay she will finally let everyone hold her. She had a ball playing with her cousins though. She was thrown on the floor with the rest of them, and just acted like she belonged! She was so cute. She is FINALLY crawling!! I didn't think I would ever see the day! She does it like she has been doing it all along.

I am ashamed to say that I do not have any pictures of this weekend, hence the absolutely precious picture of little butt during her six month photo opt!

Cruisin for a Bruisin'

Oh boy. My little buger is cruising. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen. She just amazes me more and more every day. Today, she actually let go of the couch and stood alone for a couple of seconds before diving for me! She is just learning so much so fast, and I am losing a little bit more of my baby and gaining a little bit more of my little girl every day. She is finally getting her top two teeth, and they have been torturing her for the past few days. She has been crying, or more like moaning, at around 3:00 am the past two nights. I go in her room and lay with her in the bed in there, and she just moans herself back to sleep. It truly is pitiful. Tylenol helps some, but it just don't do the whole job. I knew I would see a little "hole" in her gums for a tooth to come in, and sure enough it was there yesterday morning when I checked. I can't wait for them to come all the way through so that she can be relieved for atleast a few days from her teething woes. Another big change this week, I completely switched her to formula, and let me tell you, the child LOVES her bottle. I feel kind of bad because I just don't think I have been satisfying her with breastfeeding for a while now. I could tell my supply was going bye bye, and since I have weaned she seems so much more happy! And on a final note, she now waves bye bye! She is just so smart. I look at my little what to expect in the first year book and she is doing everything she is supposed to be doing up until about 10 mos! Now, if I can just get her to crawl! I may have to just be satisfied with my little scooter though. I was a scooter, hence the nickname "Bug" given to me because he said I looked like a little bug moving around on the floor since I never did get up on all fours. Allie seems to be getting closer and closer though, so maybe she will be a crawler before it is all over with!

Allie's starting point....

and around she goes...

until she made it all the way around...

and Lord knows she needs the exercise, just look at them legs!!

Cheater

Michael is such a cheater! I work so hard for Allie's kisses. I sweet talk her. Give her a kiss and act like it was just the greatest thing in the world. And then, I beg. I beg her to give me some sugar and every once in a while I get lucky and she leans in and gives me such a sweet little kiss. But Michael, well let's just say he has found an easier way. That turkey puts a piece of candy in his mouth and then sticks it out half way so she will lean in and taste it. I say that is cheating, and I will not resort to such trickery! (Now where is the candy bowl)

Allie Bug

I have been calling my little Darling "Allie Bug." It is only fitting, seeing that I have been "Dana Bug" for about twenty four years and six months. It is funny though, the only people that call me bug are people from my early childhood. It is always so comforting to hear my sisters or my parents call me Bug. It makes me feel special, like I am still somebodies little Dana Bug. So, I have passed this on to my little Allie. It just sounds so sweet too, "Allie Bug." Well, my little Allie Bug has met some new feats this week. She is "dancing" to music, which is the cutest thing I have ever seen. She gets up on all fours and just rocks back and forth. If she is standing, she just bounces like nobody's business. She is also able to sit up from a crawling position, which has caused some recent trouble in the nap department. I go in to check on her, and well, let's just say she isn't laying down in the least! MUST LOWER ALLIE"S MATTRESS! I am so afraid I am going to hear a thud coming from her room really really soon. She is also practicing her sitting down, then standing back up again skills. She has only seemed brave enough to do this in her crib because she has something to grab onto all of the way down, but it is so cute. She just stands up, sits down, stands up, sits down, all while waiting for mommy to clap and say yeah Allie! She also claps for our preacher when he preaches. It actually tickled him last night because she was just a clapping away at him when he looked at her! She is such a mess!!

ROTTEN....

ROTTEN.....

ROTTEN!!!

Give me Peas, Please

I have done it now. I have officially ruined the chances of me ever getting Allie to eat plain ole baby food ever again. I made the mistake of giving her spaghetti and peas the other night, much to her delight. She loved it. I would put a pea on her tray and she thought she was big stuff picking it up and eating it herself. Well, now she turns her nose up at bland tasting baby food, and eyeballs what I am eating the entire time. I had to mix mashed potatoes in with her food the other night, and had to share my biscuit with her too. She will eat some baby foods that are seasoned with onion powder, and she still likes fruit, but I can forget the plain green beans and peas and all the other baby foods that, well lets face it, taste like crapola! I guess I will have to just start fixing things that Allie can eat too and say bye bye to hamburgers and french fries night (which is every Friday by the way). Man my little girl is growing up!

Allie and her boyfriend

Well, he used to be my boyfriend, but Allie stole him right from under my nose! I used to be the light of this man's life, but it seems to be that his affection has turned to another, and I just don't know how I will ever compete with the other girl in his life. I mean she is cuter than me, gives way better kisses, and squeels in delight every time she sees him. I guess I am going to have to just get used to the fact that I am no longer the only one in Michael's life! It doesn't bother me a bit, I love every minute of watching these two bond and how much their love for one another seems to grow everyday.

Pulling up here and there and everywhere!

Allie has become a champion at pulling up on everything. Me, furniture, her crib, and even the bathtub. I was brushing my teeth this morning and in order to save myself from the torturous screams of my seven month old, I brought her in the bathroom with me! She was sitting right behind me and I felt her pulling on my legs. Next thing I knew, she was standing up and holding onto the bathtub. I am going to have to watch her like a hawk now. Gone are the days of my immobile little Allie that I could just put anywhere and walk away for a minute to return and find her in the same exact place that I left her. The days of getting into everything, grabbing onto everything trying to give mommy a heartattack days are finally here. And just think, I used to couldn't wait until these days would come.

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Cheerios

Allie has conquered the art of eating Cheerios, a milestone in every young child's life. I mean, who can't remember eating Cheerios when they were little. I catch myself eating Cheerios while Allie is and thinking I am a kid again. There is just something about Cheerios that brings out the inner child in you. !

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Allie's Easy Chair

I tell you what, this is the life isn't it. The child is literally catered to. She eats, and then kicks back and relaxes while I clean up the kitchen. Man how nice would that be. Cry when your hungry, have someone say "okay honey, I know your hungry, let me get you something yummy to eat.", have our faces stuffed, then kick back and relax while watching someone else do all of the work. Hey that sounds alot like husbands, I think we got the bad of the deal here ladies!! Just Kidding! I guess I should let Allie enjoy it while she can because the good Lord willing she will be doing the very same thing one day!

Oh, how they change!

Seven months ago, I brought a tiny little helpless baby home, scared to death of how resonsible I was for her complete well being!! I never knew how much love a mother has for her children until I set eyes on my little precious in the hospital. I didn't get to hold her until she was about 3 hours old due to my c-section, and that moment is forever etched in my memory. She just looked at me like, "well, here I am." I was nervous about her first feeding, but she nursed like she had been doing it for years. She has gone from a terrible baby, "sorry Allie, but you were" to the most precious, enjoyable baby on the planet. She has learned to smile, talk, push up on her arms, roll over, push up on all fours, put herself to sleep, scoot, feed herself (she took the spoon out of my hand this morning and showed me that she don't need my help anymore, so I put the food on the spoon and let her feed herself, almost crying the whole time) pull up from sitting, and she is so close to sitting up from her tummy and pulling up that I just don't know how she isn't doing it yet. She copies me with noises and claps when I clap. She went from not liking Daddy too much to thinking he is her boyfriend, man that girl can flirt! She laughs, cries, smiles, frowns, and has everything that makes up a little person. I just don't know how much more growing up I can take! She is my little precious, and I wouldn't change anything about her. Thank you God for my precious little gift. I give You all of the praise and glory for her, because I sure didn't have anything to do with how perfect she is!!

Two Videos for your Enjoyment

To all of you who haven't seen Allie in a while, look at what Allie is doing now. My goodness how they change from day to day. I hope that soon I will get Allie "giving kisses." She started that last night and it is the absolute most precious thing ever! She also "copies" me with some noises, so maybe I can get that on video too. It just makes it so much more real to see her in action than just in pictures!!

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Her first little Tooth

Allie brought tears to my eyes when she scooted for the first time, and she did it again when I felt her first tooth. I can't believe it, she is just growing up so fast. I knew it was coming because she has been a little extra clingier, if you can believe that. She was wanting me all of the time. I could see a little tiny hole in her gum on Saturday, and low and behold on Monday I felt her first little tooth. You can't see it really good yet, but you can feel it, and the one right next to it is not far behind. In fact, I don't see how it is still under her gum. It looks like it should just pop out any time. Her top gums are really swollen now too. Poor little thing, she is just going to get all of them at once. She is also doing something else. She says mama. Everytime she wants me I hear "mamamamamama, or nananananana." I noticed it a few days ago but ofcourse thought that there was no way she knew what she was saying. But after several days of her "calling" me just about every time she needs me, I think she does know what she is saying. When I lay her down I hear, "mamamamama." When I hand her off to someone else I hear, "mamamamama." When I put her down and walk off I hear, "mamamamama." Geez, six months old and already complaining at me. I am sorry mom for ever complaining at you!! Even though it is complaining, it melts my heart every time she does it!!

Where's Allie

Ok, so I have to learn how to get Allie doing this from my camera to the blog (little help Amber?), but I just had to share what she is doing. I give her a blanket, and I say, "Where's Allie", she pulls the blanket over her head with a big ole smile on her face and then pulls it down so I can say "There she is." I just can't believe she is already doing this, and the kicker is I only had to show her one time! At first I thought, there is no way she really knows what she is doing. But I tried it again the next day, and the next day, and I think she knows what she is doing! This child is just going to be too smart for her britches. I taught her to find Michael about a month ago. I would say "Allie, Where's Daddy" and she would smile and look at him. Now all I have to say is "Allie" inquisitively and she smiles and looks for Michael. He will even move all around the room and she finds him darn near every time! She is just too darn cute. I love that child. So, until I get this on camera, (I want to do it in video form) I will grace you all with some more beautiful pictures of my precious at Indian Springs!

6 Mos Pictures

My precious husband has had the week off for Fall Break (one of the few joys of being a teacher, hehe) so we took advantage of it and brought Allie to Indian Springs to do her 6 mos pictures. We decided we could get way better pictures of her than a proffessional because, well let's just say there are very few strangers that she will smile at. We had such a good time and I can't believe all of the good pictures that we got of her. She was such a little champ. She even had her first injury while there, (she tumbled forward while sitting on some cobble steps) but only cried for a minute and did so good for the rest of the day. We just enjoyed taking these pictures so much!!!

Look at what Allie is Doing

My little buger is getting up on all fours. I put things out in front of her, and it takes her a little while, but she finally gets to it. I have been told that once they start getting up on all fours they will be crawling in no time, so it looks like my world is about to change! I teared up with excitement when she lunged forward the first time, and in a few weeks I will be tearing up because she is going to be getting into everything! She is so precious!

Just a little bit further....
Almost there....

Aha, I got you little fishy!!!

Can anyone find my sanity, because I lost it again!

Thank goodness I haven't lost it because of sleep issues, my little buger is still sleeping through the night. She wakes about once still, but cries for about ten minutes and goes right back to sleep. Hey, compared to her previous nighttime routine, I can deal with that!! No, this time I have lost it because I cannot be more than five feet away from her or she will start screaming her head off. I'm not talking fussing a little here and there, I am talking screaming bloody murder, turning red from her head to her toes, mad at the whole world, pitching a bonified one hundred percent fit! She panics, flat out panics. I rarely can put her in the grocery cart because she is so freaked out from the ride to the grocery store where she didn't see her mommy for a whole five minutes. I roll her around in the grocery cart trying to calm her down, but it only makes it worse. I have started today by leaving the room for a few minutes, letting her cry, and then reappearing with a reassuring voice saying " Mommy's right here, see, Mommy didn't go far." I don't pick her up, and eventually she will calm down. As of late, I can't even take a pee pee in peace, and I sure can't take a nice relaxing shower unless little butt is asleep. Lord I hope this stage passes soon, or I may never find my friend sanity again!!! Any advice from you mothers out there! I will take anything you can give me. I love my little pumkin but everyone needs a little break here and there!

One look at this little precious though, and I easily regain my sanity!