First "Real" Food

On Monday we gave Fiona her first solid food. Rice cereal ... yum.

She was a little confused initially.

Then Mom couldn't keep it coming fast enough.

I would say that was a success :)

Memorial Day Weekend Part 2: Picnic at the Park

On Monday (Memorial Day) we decided it was a great day for a picnic. Nathan, Fiona and I got some lunch and headed to the park. It was a gorgeous day. We headed out to Pipal Park with our lunch and picnic blanket in tow.

We had a nice lunch and just hung out and played on the blanket.

Then we headed over to the playground and played on the slide and the swings for awhile before heading home and taking a family nap. Gotta love those.

Daddy was a little more excited about the slide than Fiona was.


But she loves the swing!

It was a very nice and relaxing Memorial Day.

6 Months Old

Hard to believe how much Fiona has changed in 6 short months!

We took Fiona for her 6 month check-up and she weighed in at 14 lbs 13 oz and was 25.25 inches long, which is about the 25th percentile for both. She is growing like a weed, but is still my little peanut!

Fi is so much fun these days.

She loves to roll around on the floor and eat her feet. She giggles like crazy when you act like you might tickle her. She LOVES patty cake and laughs hysterically when you start it. She immediately spots any dog within a block and squeals at it. She says "mamamama" when she is sad. She says "dadadada" when she is happy (not fair). She is sitting up on her own for a few seconds, but is too busy to bother sitting still much longer than that (she is usually distracted by her feet). She is starting to show some stranger danger, but warms up to most people in a few minutes. She sleeps about 8 hours at a time at night (Yahoo!!!!). She grabs everything within reach. She LOVES eating (even if it is only rice cereal so far). She figured out how to drink out of a straw.

She makes us smile and feel amazingly blessed every day!!

Memorial Day Weekend Part 1: Adventureland

On Saturday, Fiona and I went to Adventureland with my parents, 2 of my sisters, and a bunch of other friends and family. We left Nathan at home because he had some work to do and couldn't go. I was a little nervous about how the baby would do. I figured she would either be an angel or a demon. Turns out she was an angel baby.

We drove to Adventureland Saturday morning and pretty much headed straight to the park. My Dad took Fiona on the carousel right when we got there. It was cute, but she was pretty unimpressed by the whole thing. Then we traded off staying with Fiona and the stroller and riding rides. We also took Fi on the teacups. She kind of liked them, but the ride lasted too long and she started to get a little angry.

Fiona and Grandpa on the Carousel

In the afternoon it started to get pretty hot. My Mom and I headed to the Ragin' River and Dad stayed with the babe. He kept dumping water all over her trying to keep her cool because it was pretty warm out.

Soaking wet and loving it. (Notice the cute diaper. I know I said I was done with them, but I decided to give them one last chance. Third times a charm, right? Not really. They did better than before, but still not up to par)


With a cousin


Budding photographer

We headed back to the hotel and Fiona did a little swimming in the pool with her Grampy. She really liked swimming, but the chlorine kind of bothered her, so it was a short swim.

Fiona was such a flirt the whole time. She was all smiles at everybody. It turns out she likes having 12 or so people devoted to her happiness all weekend. She didn't do much sleeping, but at least she was happy about it.

Wordless Wednesday

Gro Baby

So one of the cloth diapers that I have wanted to try is called Gro Baby. Go to this link and check them out.
http://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/grobaby%E2%84%A2-ic-11_16.htm
They are a one size diaper, so no need to buy multiple sizes which is much better for the pocket book. They have an adjustable rise, like the Bum Genius one size diapers which we are liking right now. The difference with the Gro Baby's is that the soaker is a snap in, so instead of the whole diaper getting dirty, just the soaker does, so you can reuse the shell. In that way, they are more like my prefolds and covers.
Plus, a big bonus is that the soaker material is organic, so it is good for Fiona's little tushy.
And did I mention the super cute colors. I love the bright colors the diaper shells come in.
These diapers are definitely on my list of diapers I want to try out.

Adventures in Cloth Diapering

From before we were ever pregnant I always assumed that I would cloth diaper my kids someday. My Mom cloth diapered all of us, as did various other relatives. I was comfortable with cloth. I also liked the benefit to the environment (yes, I'm a tree hugger ... most of the time).

When I was pregnant I looked into cloth diapers more seriously and was sold even more by the fact that we would not only be saving the environment, but also our wallet (that is the part that sold Nathan). I also LOVED all the SUPER CUTE diapers. These were not the boring old white prefolds with pins and plastic pants that my Mom had used. There were so many options and they were all so darn CUTE. They were also so darn EXPENSIVE.

My Mom bought us a month of cloth diaper service and that was a WONDERFUL gift. I really enjoyed being able to throw the diapers in a pail and someone else did the dirty work. However, after 2 months we decided it was a little pricey to keep up so we bought some diapers. Unfortunately, the only thing in our budget was prefolds and some not super cute covers. I was very bummed, but still committed to cloth diapering and really didn't mind the laundry as much as I thought.

Recently, I started working at the Orpheum occasionally. This has been nice for a variety of reasons, but one being that it has provided a little extra spending money. So what did I do with that extra cash? I went straight to diaperswappers.com, of course. I watched like a hawk until I came upon 2 deals, which I decided I couldn't turn down. I was in search of a couple of diapers that Nathan could use more easily when I was not home.

One of the results of working once in awhile is that Nathan is home alone with the baby more. Whereas he was somewhat comfortable with the prefolds and snappi in Fiona's early months, as she has become more and more mobile she has become more difficult to diaper. This has led to Nathan refusing to attempt the prefolds and using disposables when I'm not around (not that I'm complaining too much, at least he was changing her diaper).

So there I was, in search of an easier to use cloth diaper. The first one I found was a Toilebudz. They were cheap, cute, and I had seen some decent reviews of them. I got 3 for dirt cheap, so I thought we would give them a whirl. I really wanted these diapers to work for us. They were so CUTE. However, after using all 3 twice I am about to re-list them. Sadly, they leaked. It looked like they fit pretty well, but after 2 hours Fiona's clothes were soggy. The first attempt was when I was away, so I thought it might be user error. I gave them one more shot while I was home with the same results ... leakage. So sad.

The second deal I got was on 2 Bum Genius one size diapers. I am more cautiously optimistic about these. They are cute, not as cute as the others. The down side of the deal was that they are green and blue, which are not girly colors. I can easily get over that if they work. They are in the process of being tested. I am really keeping my fingers crossed that these work. I will have to update you all when a verdict has been arrived at.

Now, I am in search of another deal. I want something easy for the hubby, that works well with minimal leakage, cute and girly is a plus, and of course it has to be within our budget.

I entered about a million blog giveaways hoping to win some diapers to try out, but alas none have panned out. So if you have some diapers laying around that you want to donate to the cause, I will gladly take those off your hands. Or if someone wants to send me some diapers to review that would also be acceptable. Also any suggestions on good diapers to try out for the princess would also be welcomed.

Wordless Wednesday

Smart Baby

So last night my parents took us out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary. My parents, 2 of my sisters, Nathan, Fi, and I all went to Cheesecake Factory for a very yummy dinner. How can you have a bad dinner when it ends with a VERY YUMMY piece of cheesecake?

Fiona has become much more difficult to take out to dinner. Gone are the days when she would just snooze away in her car seat letting Mommy and Daddy enjoy conversation and their dinners in peace. Now she is awake the whole time and requires constant attention to keep her distracted from the fact that it is an hour from bedtime. She was loving chewing on everything she can get her cute little hands on, plates, spoons, napkins, etc.

Fiona REALLY likes cups. She likes to hold them. She likes to lick them. She likes to throw them on the ground. She likes cups.

So in an effort to distract her from screeching like a banshee my Dad gave her his glass of water with a straw in it. That little smarty pants grabbed the straw, put it in her mouth and started sucking. She was drinking water out of a straw ... and LOVING it. She drank like 1/4 a glass of ice water because we couldn't get her to give up the straw. Such a funny baby. (I know some of you will be unimpressed with this feat, but to someone with a background in speech-language, who knows the motor development of the mouth, it is pretty cool)

Now we won't ever be able to drink out of a straw safely with Fiona in arm's reach, because she throws a hissy fit if she sees a straw and she can't have it. Silly baby :)

Wicked

So I occassionally bartend down at the Orpheum Theater here in town. This month the show, Wicked is playing. I have worked several of the shows. The great part about working at the Orpheum is that sometimes you get to watch the show on the tv in the lounge/lobby. I have worked enough that I have now gotten to see the whole performance. All I have to say is ... Wow! I had hear a lot of hype about this show. I was a bit skeptical. I mean I do love a good musical, but could it really be as good as everyone said. I was prepared to be a little disappointed after all the hype.

I was NOT disappointed. The show is really amazing. The songs are catchy and get stuck in your head. The cast is awesome. The set is beautiful. I really wish I had the cash and was going to sit down and see the show inside the theater. If you are going to the show, first I'm jealous, second you will love it.

After listening to all the songs several times over I really want to own the soundtrack. I'm thinking about telling Nathan he should get it for me to make up for the less than spectacular Mother's Day. I can't possibly wait until the next gift giving holiday, because that is Christmas, and I always feel guilty buying things like that for myself.

First Kiss Fail

I don't know if any of you are familiar with the hilarity that is failblog.org, but if you aren't you should definitely check it out. As if you needed another way to waste time on the Internet. I found this gem when I was pregnant and had a lot of time to kill sitting with my feet up. I still greatly enjoy perusing the stupidity and they have LOLCats and LOLDogs, which are always good for a smile.
Anyway, Nathan thinks we should submit this picture and title it "First Kiss Fail"


I know some of you are probably thinking I am a horrible parent for letting my daughter makeout with the dog AND taking pictures of it. What can I say, the girl LOVES the dog and vice versa. She squeals until he comes over and licks her and then she starts licking back and laughing hysterically. I try to stop it and she cries. So whatever makes the baby happy. Seriously, I do usually stop it, but I had to get a picture this time to preserve the memory ... and embarrass her when she's older.

Our 2nd Anniversary

Wow 2 years have just blown by. Hard to believe that our wedding was 2 whole years ago (as of yesterday).

Last year on our anniversary we were still in Colorado, I was working full time, we lived in a third floor apartment, had a 3 hour daily commute, and I was pregnant. We heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time the day before our anniversary, so it was very special. We celebrated by going out to dinner at the Melting Pot ... mmmm. Nathan also took me to build-a-bear and we made a bunny for the baby. It was all his idea, isn't he sweet?

This year we are back in Omaha, I'm staying home (mostly), we live in a house, Nathan has a 10 minute commute, and we have one of the most beautiful baby girls ever. Funny how life can change so much in one year. We have been so blessed this year.
I am married to one of the greatest guys ever. He is an amazing husband and father. He may not always be wonderful about holidays, but he is pretty wonderful every day, working hard to support us and coming home to help out around the house and with the baby. I know I take him for granted sometimes and I need to do a better job appreciating all he does for us.

We celebrated early, on Saturday because that was the only time we had a babysitter. We went to Brother Sebastian's for dinner and then tried to make it to a movie, but didn't end up going. It was a nice date.

Here is to another great year together! Then 75 more!

Wordless Wednesday

CRAPtastic Day

This post is not for the weak stomached. It involves a lot of bodily fluids. Read at your own risk.

Today has been just wonderful. (Can you see the sarcasm dripping off of that?) It started off well, but took a turn for the worst very quickly.

Fiona slept from 8:30 until 6:00 this morning, which was absolutely fabulous. I heart sleep. She got up and ate and played until about 7 and then went back to sleep. I woke up Nathan and asked him to take the dogs out because I wanted to grab a quick shower. A few minutes later Nathan comes into the bathroom to tell me he heard the baby wake up, and oh yeah, Toby (the dog) had diarrhea in his kennel and puked outside, then puked again when he brought him inside. But, Nathan had to run out the door to work, so could I take care of it?

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!?!

In the few minutes it took me to get out of the shower the dog had puked and pooped about 3 more times all over the house (and all over 3 pairs of my shoes). What a wonderful morning. I needed a drink and it was only 7:30. I got the baby up, put her in the swing, and started cleaning. I stupidly left the dogs out, partly because I still needed to clean the kennel out, but I also honestly thought the grossness was done. However, of course it wasn't. I spent the morning cleaning up after the dog.

On top of the dog grossness, Fiona has a very snotty nose and so I was also covered in baby snot. Then, while I was feeding her, I heard the rumblings down below. I'm sure that by now you can see where this is going. It was of course a blow out diaper of unrivaled proportions. She covered us both in baby poop. So much for my shower.

I wish the day ended with that, but alas, it does not. After recovering slightly from the train wreck of a morning and early afternoon, I decided it would put us all in a better mood (oh yeah, the baby had definitely refused to nap so she was in a winner of a mood) if we went outside and enjoyed the sun and the nice weather. It was gorgeous out and despite the forest that is forming in the back because Nathan has still not finished mowing, we were all enjoying being out of the stinky house for a bit. I was just sitting there minding my own business when a bird flies over and, oh yes, POOPS on me. I got CRAPPED on my a BIRD!! I got bird poop all over my arm and some in my hair.

This has literally been a crap filled day (dog, baby, and bird poop) and it is only 4:15. Please send alcohol and a cleaning crew, but mostly just alcohol.

"Great" Weekend

Fiona got to spend the weekend with her great-grandparents. My grandparents from Colorado were in town visiting over the weekend. They hadn't seen Fiona since she was about a month old. Crazy how time flies.

We had a great time visiting and the weekend didn't last long enough. Fiona had some crabby moments, but she was a pretty happy camper for the majority of the weekend.

With Great-Grandma Donna

Having a serious chat.

Sitting with Great-Grandpa Chuck

Swinging with Aunt Maggie.

She was going to town chewing on her Daddy's pop. You can't really tell, but she was holding onto it with her hands and her feet so that no one would take it away.