Alex and Reagan

Alex and Reagan were so cute today at playgroup. They were mesmerized with each other. Alex did great sitting up, too. She sat alone for several minutes moving around: leaning forward, sitting up straight, turning her head and body. I'm so proud of her!
"Look at me. I am sitting up big and tall like Reagan."

More Baby Food Making...

Here are some of the veggies and fruit I am processing. I did the acorn squash and butternut squash today. And no, I had never bought either of them before or knew what they were until today. However, they tasted yummy after I baked and pureed them. I am using a baby food book (Mommy Made and Daddy Too: Home Cooking for a Healthy Baby and Toddler) to help guide me and it had recipes for those in it.

The ice tray idea was in some books and highly recommended by my friend Gina. After the food freezes, I bagged them in freezer ziplocs to be used when needed. Each cube = about 1 oz so it is easy to measure how much to feed Alex. I enjoyed making the squashes. However, I will probably not tackle the butternut squash again. It was difficult to peel as it took way too long and made a big mess. The acorn squash was so good that I may incorporate it into mine and Chris' menu. :)

Jogging Stroller

We tried out the jogging stroller from the McCarleys for the first time this week. It is light weight and a smooth ride for Alex as it has shocks, big tires, and all kind of cool things. Alex loves being able to look around facing forward. Excited to rack up the miles this Spring. :)

Hickle Reunion/Arkansas Family

On Saturday night, Layla and Jason hosted a reunion party for Jeff and Chrissa Hickle, friends who recently moved to F'ville. We had a great time catching up, eating yummy brisket soft tacos, laughing, etc. We joked at how the kid ratio had doubled from one year ago... and it may double again in one more year as 3 of the girls are pregnant in this pic (not me!). These friends are very special to us. They have become our family here in Little Rock. We are so thankful for them.



"Look at me. I sat up by myself for about 10-20 seconds. I even caught myself as I started to lean too far right once. I'm gonna get this sitting up thing soon. I'm tired of crashing down." :)





Alex loves the puppy.

Intro to Carrots

Tonight was a big night as we introduced Alex to her first solid food - carrots. She gobbled them up and didn't even flinch that it was not her usual cereal. I'm attempting to homemake all her baby food for various reasons: healthier, cheaper, tastier, easier transition to table food, i love to cook, etc... We (yes, Chris pitched in as he wanted to use our new food processor) had fun making the carrots. We peeled, boiled, and processed 2 lbs of carrots. Each pound cost 99 cents (not on sale this time) and supposedly 2 lbs makes 8-12 jars of carrots. I already see the savings! It was pretty easy, too, and did not take very long. Making the food in bulk and freezing it will be key so I won't have to clean the processor as much. I hope I have time to keep this up!

Our Sweet Pea Cutie Pie Loveable Munchkin

A Whole New World

Literally, it was a whole new world for us all. For Alex, she got to see the neighborhood from a brand new perspective sitting up in the stroller for the first time on our family walk yesterday. She loved it! For us, we felt like Alex had grown up so much as we didn't have to put the carrier in the stroller. Whoa! Time flies so fast...our lil punkin isn't little any more. However, each stage is so much fun. We are loving this 5 month old stage. She is so interactive with us, yet she can't move away from us yet. :)

"Instant" Chair

Many things function as an infant chair when needed. :)

Daddy's Help???

Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the messes of Chris and Alex...probably because I was not happy last night at the time and missed tonight... However, it is quite funny now so I thought I'd share it. Chris is off this week for "vacation." Yet, he (and I and Alex) have been under the weather most of the week so he has not studied as planned for his inservice exam nor been able to rest (and play) as much as he wanted. Since he is home, he has helped more with Alex. Specifically last night, I was feeling congested and weak. So, Chris stepped in to help more as he was feeling a bit better. He bathed, dressed, and fed Alex pumped milk as well as cereal. Wow...you ladies may say! However, it was the biggest mess ever! First, he put her pjs on backwards. Then, he didn't notice that half of the milk was dripping from the bottle (top not on right-my fault) through her bib onto her clean backwards pjs (from neck down to chest and on one sleeve) inevitably making it onto her clean skin. Then, he couldn't keep Alex's hands out of her mouth while feeding her cereal so she got cereal on both hands and smeared it in her hair. Me offering "suggestions" along the way only distracted him he said. SO, guess what? I had to rebathe her, change her, and clean the table from the cereal that dripped from his overfull spoon. It's all funny now, but not so much last night as I felt bad and was looking for less to do. Well, the laughs continued today. I went to get Alex from the Baby Einstein Activity Center (see previous blog pic) and Chris had put her in it backwards. Tonight he had a chance to redeem himself with the feeding. I didn't watch it as I'm sure I'd offer more "suggestions" so I went to take a hot shower as I still feel bad. He brought her in there to me afterwards and I was impressed with how clean she was. I asked how it went. LOL! He busted out laughing saying that she got tired of eating her cereal and threw back in the bumbo which knocked the bowl of unfinished cereal to the floor, table, and chair. I uncontrollably laughed and wished I could have captured that mess on film. He cleaned up this mess and she eventually went down for bed. Wonder what he'll do tomorrow. :) I think we are just tired this week and sitting ducks for silliness. These laughs are needed amidst our unproductive, restless, ill week. And yes, daddy has been a big help. Happy Valentines Everyone!


My two sweet peas. Thanks Mimi for the Valentine's outfit. :)

5 Months Old

Trip to Birmingham

Chris, Alex and I traveled to Birmingham this past weekend for a quick trip. We went to help give a wedding shower for my special friend, Cathy Henderson. She will marry Jeff Carver on June 7, 08. While in B'ham, we also got to visit one of my suitemates from college, Kristen Larremore, and one of Chris' friends from Hattiesburg, John Allen (no pic). We had a good time and look forward to heading back in June for the big day.Cathy and Rebecca
Hostesses with Cathy at Shower
Rebecca and Kristen

Since I last blogged...

...Chris' parents came to visit.
...Alex had a cold for over a week (hence the elevated mattress and humidifier below). Sick baby = sleep deprivation for all.
...Chris and Rebecca were under the weather for a few days.
...Rebecca had a minor surgery in mouth.
...Alex began eating cereal twice a day.
...Alex rolled over by herself both ways.
...We hosted our friends, Jason, Layla, Reagan, and their puppies (see The Ramsey Family link on side) for 2 nights because their power went out last week. Jason and the puppies joined us the second night. It was like a slumber party!
...4 friends had babies. One was 4 lb, 6 oz; he was the smallest baby I have ever seen or held! He was beautiful!
...The Giants won the Superbowl.
...Rebecca started preparing the 2008 Guatemala Medical Mission Team for March. (I cannot go this year as I am nursing.)
...We voted for Huckabee in the primary today.

As you can see, life has been so busy!!! There was no time to blog until now...and actually I should probably be cleaning, working or "feedin' the children." :)

Working Out

Many people say that Alex is strong for her age. Well, we figured out why. She has started working out already. You should see her doing squats. :)