A Relaxing Christmas :)

Christmas has come and gone. It went by too fast as usual, but it was great.  Probably one of my favorite holidays yet.

We had a big delicious Christmas Eve dinner with lots of family. Followed by an evening at home opening Christmas pajama's and watching a Christmas movie.

Christmas morning was spent with Vince's immediate family eating breakfast and exchanging gifts.

Around noon we went home and spent the rest of the day just the three of us.

We wanted to be able to start our own Christmas traditions as a family. We opened our gifts, played with Kaylee's toys, made Christmas dinner together, and ended the night with a movie and warm drinks. No driving all over the place all day long like normal. Just simple, sweet, quality family time.

It was a perfect Christmas.

Our families spoiled us more than we deserve, we both felt so loved and blessed.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends.

For those of you who have off this week enjoy it! I'm jealous. For anyone else who is working like me, I hope the week goes by quickly so you get to enjoy another long holiday weekend coming up :)

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Also, I had to share this picture. The day after Christmas we went shopping and before we left I couldn't help but notice how much older Kaylee is starting look.

Seriously, where did my baby go??

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

As I mentioned last week I had a few things to do to finish getting ready for the holidays, but I was looking around my house last night before going to bed and I think everything is finally ready. It's definitely looking like Christmas :)

The stockings are up and presents are wrapped and under the tree.

Christmas cards have been mailed and received :)

The decorations are out and the cookies have been made.



The lights are all up and Ty has been bathed.

(he was all white until he decided to get into the plant by the front door)

Now all that is left to do is finish this week of work and then relax and enjoy the holiday.

Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday week with all of your loved one!

*Thank you Shutterfly for the Christmas cards! And sorry for all the crappy iphone pictures, I was way too lazy to get out my real camera last night.

Who needs sleep anyways?

A couple of the guys at work have become new dads recently and yesterday we were all talking about the craziness of being a parent to an infant.

One of the guys has a 3 month old that has been sleeping through the night since he was 10 days old. Seriously. Yes, I'm jealous. But his son is also very colicky, so he said he cries all day long. He said he wouldn't mind if his son woke up during the night if it meant that he was happy throughout day.

The other dad was the exact opposite. His daughter is 4 months old and is happy as can be all day long, but is waking up multiple times every night. He was saying he would do anything to have just one night of sleep even if it meant his daughter was cranky during the day.

This made me think about if I was given the choice which is better?

 I have had the joy (ha) of experiencing both sides of this with Kaylee.

When she was a couple months old she was a colicky, fussy baby all day.. BUT she slept 10 hours straight every single night. After she hit about 16 weeks old she turned into such a sweet, happy, content baby. But at night? She absolutely refuses to sleep. She goes to bed fine, but after that every night is different. Most often she is up just once, but we do have nights where she is up twice, and then there are those very rare random nights that she decides to give me a break and doesn't get up at all. (I would like those nights to happen more often. Please, Kaylee?!)

We have tried everything and she just won't sleep.

I miss my nights of peaceful sleep like crazy. There are times at 3am that I think like the 2nd dad and would deal with anything during the day just to have her sleep at night. But then once I'm up for the day and not in my middle of the night zombie mode, I know that's not true. I 100% percent would rather have her happy during the day. If I have to wake-up I might complain some, but I'll get over it.

Besides at this point I am getting used to functioning on no sleep.

I figure at some point she will sort it all out and realize she does in fact like sleeping. (with my luck, as soon as that happens I will be starting the whole process over again with another little one..) For now I will just enjoy all the smiles and laughs I get during the day (and maybe buy more concealer to cover up the dark circles under my eyes) and try to stop focusing on the stress of the long nights. Who needs sleep anyways?

12 Things About Me :)

There are only 12 days until Christmas! Can you believe it? I can't.

I still have some last minute gifts to get and cookies to bake. Ty needs to be groomed so that he looks all cute and clean for the holidays (just called and thankfully they had an opening for this weekend). I am making Christmas dinner this year so I need to decide what I am cooking and pick up groceries. But really, other than that I am pretty much all set and I am SO looking forward to our first holiday as a family of 3. ( 4 if you count Ty ;) )

Ever since I woke up today and realized there were only 12 days left I have had the song 12 Days of Christmas playing on repeat in my head. So, because of that I have decided to write down 12 (completely random) things you may not already know about me :)

1. I have a ridiculous obsession with hot peppers. Random, but true.

2. I am can be a neat freak. I don't like to clean, but I love a clean house. So, I clean a lot. I think it drives Vince crazy at times. I am constantly putting things away that he needs out just because I can't stand stuff just sitting around. It will be interesting to see how I handle all of Kaylee's toys once she is walking and all over the place haha.  

3. I am a total Mama's girl. I very rarely make any decisions big or small without first consulting my mom.

4. I am scared of cats. No offense to people who have cats, but they freak me out. I had 2 growing up and they were both crazy.

5. I used to be a dancer. I danced from the time I was 5 until I quit right before senior year in high school. At one point I was dancing 20-25 hours a week. I miss it a ton now, and regret quitting when I did.

6. I was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota. My father was in the air force at the time so we lived on base.

7. Since Kaylee was born I have never gone a single day without showering. Before Kaylee I would usually shower twice a day. I sometimes wish I could skip a day here or there, but for some reason I just can't. I need that 10 minutes of me time.

8. I was president of my sorority in college. Having to be the one to set and enforce rules for 140 other girls wasn't always the easiest or the most fun job in the world, but I do truly love my sisters :)

9. Speaking of sisters, I typically only refer to my sister Samantha, but I do have other siblings. I have another half sister Brittnee who just turned 20 yesterday and a step brother Sean who will be 27 in January. I was raised with Sam so we are super close and she is one of my best friends. Brittnee and Sean both lived with my father in Florida before he passed away so I don't see them nearly as often as I would like, but we do still talk and keep in touch.

10. Scary movies are my favorite. Given the choice between watching a romantic comedy or a scary movie, I always go with the scary one.

11. When I was really little I wrote with my left hand. Then I started at a private school when I was 5 and they made me switch to writing with my right hand. For awhile I could still write with both, but now I only use my right hand.

12. When Vince and I first got engaged we both agreed we never wanted kids. We were serious about it at the time. Sometime after actually getting married and buying a house we changed our minds and decided we wanted just one. Now, 7 months after having Kaylee? We want 3. Preferably sooner rather than later. It's funny how things change ;)

A Parade, Ear Piercings, and Meeting Santa :)

Last week was a very long week at work, plus pretty stressful with all of Kaylee's doctors appointments, so I was really looking forward to spending the weekend just relaxingand starting to celebrate the holidays.

Saturday morning while Vince was working Kaylee and I did a little Christmas shopping. Then that afternoon when he was done there was a Christmas parade right down the street from our house so we bundled Kaylee up and walked down to watch it with Vince's family.

She didn't seem overly excited about it, but she watched the whole thing and smiled at anyone that stopped to say hello.

Afterwards we ran a few errands, came home put Kaylee to bed and then curled up on the couch with a bottle of wine and watched a movie. (we watched The Help.. I'm sure most of you have seen it by now, but if not it's SO good so make sure you check it out!)

We continued with the Christmas fun on Sunday morning when we took Kaylee to see Santa. We got there early so we wouldn't have to wait too long and thankfully the Miss Kay kept herself entertained with smiling at everyone else in line (she definitely has her daddy's outgoing personality and will talk to anyone haha). Vince put her on Santa's lap, she looked up and starred at him for a few seconds, then turned smiled and that was that.

I have to say the picture turned out pretty cute :)

We had all intentions of heading home right after her picture and putting her down for her nap, but as we were walking out I saw a sign for ear piercings. I have been debating doing it for awhile now and decided if I was going to I might as well do it now.

I was definitely nervous. I knew it would make her cry, but I also knew it would look so cute. So she sat on my lap and in less than 30 seconds they were done. She cried and practically jumped out of my arms into Vince's as soon as they finished. But I had her bottle ready and fed her as soon as I stood up and within a minute she was fine again.

(this was right after they were done... she obviously wasn't too happy, but not screaming either)

They don't seem to bother her at all and she hasn't pulled on them once. I honestly don't even think she knows they are there (which is probably for the best). So now my little lady has earrings like a big girl :)

Meeting Santa and getting her ears pierced was a pretty big day for a little girl. So the rest of the day we just lounged around the house, wrapped presents, watched football and finished the night with Vince's family coming to our house for Sunday family dinner.

I love laid back family weekends like this. There really isn't anything better.

A little bit of everything

Saying I am tired today would be an understatement. The Little Miss decided 4am was a good time to get up to play today. That was a first. We have had early mornings before, but never this early. Plus I had stayed up till almost 12 talking with mom, and let me tell you I do not function well off of only 4 hours of sleep.

I am crossing my fingers today is busy at work so I don't have time to just sit, otherwise I might pass out at my desk.

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On a more positive note, I had a really good weekend. Friday I got done work a little early and Vince watched Kaylee so my mom and I could go out shopping. Saturday Vince and I had a wedding in the city, which was GORGEOUS and a lot of fun. It was kind of like a mini high school reunion, so it was nice getting to catch up with everyone. Unfortunately Saturday I woke up not feeling so great and by the end of the wedding I was pretty sick, so I didn't get to enjoy it quite as much as I would have liked, but we still had a really good time.

Sunday I still wasn't feeling good, but a little better. So my mom, mother-in-law, Kaylee and I went to a big craft show in Harrisburg, then on the way back we stopped and did some shopping at the outlets. Then last night Vince and I celebrated Christmas early with my mom since we won't be seeing my family then. We saved some of the gifts from my parents to actually open on Christmas, but it's always nice getting to see people open the gifts you get them. (Vince got a Bose system and was like a little kid playing with a new toy the rest of the night haha) 

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It's amazing to me how the moment I get sick everyone starts asking if I am pregnant. I swear I could have a cold and that is the first thing people start wondering about. I understood this more before I had Kaylee, because people knew we were trying. But, now I don't get it. I mean I have 6 month old, do people really think I would be pregnant already? And of course I know that it's always a possibility and I would be ok if it happened, but seriously I swear I'm not pregnant and I'm not trying to be. 

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When I first started at my job I was the youngest one. I was 24 and the person closest to me was 37. Over the past few years we have gotten 3 other girls all in their 20's. I never minded before about not having people my age at work, but now that I do I love it. I like having them to hangout with at work and after sometimes too. It really does make getting up and coming to work so much easier.

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I am taking an early lunch today so I can drop my mom off for her flight home. She hasn't even technically left yet and I am still sad about it. I haven't seen my sister since August (now that she is in college it's harder to schedule things together) and I have only seen my dad one day since then. This summer will be 4 years since they moved and I swear it hasn't gotten any easier. I miss them a ton, but I am grateful that my mom is so great about coming to visit us whenever she can. My family has a place in Vermont so I think we are going to all try to meet up there in January to go skiing. I am already counting the days.

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I need to find a new series to watch. Over the past couple of years I have watched 24, LOST, One Tree Hill, and Friday Night Lights. All from start to finish. (well OTH is actually still on, but I watched the 1st 6 seasons last year and just caught up with it in season 7) I love getting them and watching them all at once like that. I don't know why, but I do. So, anyways does anyone have any good suggestions on what my next show should be??

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It still amazes me every single day how much Kaylee has changed my life. In a good way. I seriously feel like a different person. I love her more than words can describe and literally just seeing her smile can make my whole day. On Wednesday we have some important doctors appointments at DuPont Children's Hospital. I haven't talked about it all, because I am hoping it turns out to not be a big deal and it's nothing that needs to be addressed online right now. But if you could please keep her in your prayers for me I would greatly apprecaite it.

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Hope you all have a great week! Happy Monday!

December, Already?!

Thanksgiving is over and today starts the last month of the year. Which means? Work is CRAZY. I hate end of the year time (just at work, I love it at home because it means Christmas time!). So I apologize in advance for my lack of posts, but with work and just the normal holiday business I have a feeling I won't get to blog too much.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with your friends and families. We had a good very low key and relaxing holiday with Vince's family. Even though I missed my family a lot it was kind of nice to just stay home and not travel this year. (plus my mom is actually flying here today and staying till Monday so knowing I would see her soon helped!)

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I saw this little questionnaire over at Katie's blog a few weeks ago and decided to copy :)

Guilty pleasure?

All of the Kardashian shows... KUWTK, KKTNY, Khloe and Lamar, etc. I watch every episode and love it.

Recent splurge?

Honestly? I can't think of much. I bought a dress for a wedding this weekend that was a little more than I normally would spend on myself... but other than that I have been pretty good lately. (I have also actually stuck to the budget I set for Christmas gifts, which never happens! So, yay me!)

In bulk, I buy?

Only 4 things.. paper towels, toilet paper, diapers and wipes. We get large quantities at BJ's every few months rather than have to go buy them all of the time.

My go-to flower?

I'm not picky, I like them all. It's not unusual to find multiple vases of fresh flowers around my house on any given day.

Comfort food?

I actually don't really have a comfort food. Weird, I know. But I do love a cup of hot tea at night after a long day (or a glass of wine of course).

Now, if the question had been hangover food? The answer would have definitely been Chick-fil-a ;)

For breakfast?

I usually grab a water (again, weird I know... but I don't drink coffee or much juice either) and thing of yogurt to eat on my way to work.

For dinner?

Since Kaylee, we don't go out as often so I cook Monday through Friday. This is could be anything.. something in a crockpot, a casserole, pasta, I love anything mexican, and or course there's always chicken... whatever I feel like making really.

Saturday we either go out early for dinner or just order something in.

And Sunday we have family dinner at Vince's house which is usually some kind of homemade Pasta (they are Italian after all lol)

Love/hate relationship with?

Work. Some days it's great and I can picture myself here for a long time, and some days I want to quit. I also love the extra money, but I hate missing Kaylee during the day. Work really is something I change my mind about every.single.day.

Can't stop watching?

Umm, where do I begin?

Ringer, Heart of Dixie, Gossip Girl, Secret Circle, Grey's are the 5 shows that are always filling my dvr.

Then there's all of my reality show addictions whenever they are on... dance moms, bachelor/bachelorette, Kardashians, project runway. Yes, I know I have a problem.

Dreaming about?

Lots of things. Christmas, vacations, babies (not anytime too soon, but eventually), etc.

Every girl should have?

A best friend. Don't know what I would do without mine :)

My style in five words?

I don't really have one set style. For work I dress up. At home I wear yoga pants/leggings constantly. And when I'm out I usually try to dress in something in between the two. I typically go for stylish, yet still comfortable. So yeah, not quite 5 words and no real "style" per say.

I love wearing?

Uggs, leggings, and scarfs are absolute must in the winter. I am too embarrassed to admit how many pairs of uggs I have, but I seriously live in them all winter long.

Dream job?

I honestly have no idea. I like what I do so maybe if I can figure out a way to continue this, but only work part time I would consider that my dream job. I am working on sorting all that out now.

Happy December :)

Love Those Chubby Cheeks

I can't believe Thanksgiving is THIS week! I am really excited. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. It's the perfect day to spend just relaxing, cathcing up with family, and enjoying good food. ( and having a short week at work is always a plus ;) )

I doubt I will post much this week, so hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I thought I would leave you with a few pictures I took of Kaylee this weekend. On Saturday my mother-in-law and I went shopping and while I was waiting for her to come over Kaylee was just sitting on floor all bundled up ready to go and for once I actually had my camera out and got a few cute shots :)

Even Ty likes to kiss those chubby cheeks of hers..

As you can see her eyes are starting to get dark. The have always been a dark blue color, but lately they have gotten darker and I believe they will be brown before too long..

My BF's Wedding Recap

This week has been really busy at work, plus the secretary is on vacation all week and that means the phones have been going crazyyyyy. I am so ready for Friday and a weekend of no real plans!

Speaking of the weekend, last weekend Vince and I both had such a wonderful time at my best friends wedding. She looked STUNNING and the whole day really was amazing. The ceremony was beautiful and then we were able to enjoy an extended cocktail hour (for like 2+ hours, it was a blast). On the way to the reception I started freaking out a little bit about my speech, but it ended up going really well (or at least I think so haha). The rest of the evening was spent dancing and celebrating with the bride and groom. So much fun. I want to do it all again ;)

(This is a picture on my iphone, I will try to upload a few of the ones I took on my camera later on)

They are on their honeymoon right now and even though I hope they are having a fabulous time, I want them to come home soon! The bride and I talk almost every single day and it's killing me not to be able to call her!

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Hope you all are having a good week. I will try to post more soon! Happy Hump Day :)

The never ending to-do list and my BF's wedding weekend!

Lately I feel like every time I cross something off my to-do list I just end up adding 3 more things. It really is never ending. It's all little stuff, but those little things add up to a lot. I need to start Christmas shopping, I have some thank you cards that are written but not mailed because I am too lazy to go to the post office to get stamps, I need curtains for my bedroom, I have pictures in frames that need to be hung, I want to put up shelves in Kaylee's room for her books... and seriously the list goes on and on. None of it is super important (ok, the thank you cards MUST go out this weekend), but it's all things I do eventually need to get done. Soon. Hopefully.

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So I have mentioned before that one of my new favorite shows is Secret Circle on the CW. Love it and Vince likes to watch it with me which is always a plus. Since I never watch anything on normal time anymore my dvr records everything and for some reason last Thursday it didn't record the new episode. It recorded Grey's still, but not Secret Circle. I was so bummed (it was a little pathetic how upset I was) and CW shows aren't on demand so I can't watch it there. Guess I will have to watch it on the computer, which for some reason I hate doing, but better there than no where.

Can't believe I even wasted time writing about this, but seriously people it's such a good show!

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My Erin Condren iPhone case came in last week. Love it. Should I have wasted the money on it? No. But I figure it's ok since I never buy anything for me anymore, I deserve to get something once in awhile too right? ;)

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I mentioned that Christmas shopping is on my to-do list. That wouldn't be that hard to do if I actually had a Christmas list. However, I don't. I have no idea what to get anyone this year. I normally am the queen of Christmas shopping. I go on Black Friday to buy my last few items and then have it all wrapped and under the tree before December 1st. Seriously. But this year? NO idea what to get anyone, so that means NO gifts yet. I will be lucky to have it done before Christmas eve.  

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This weekend is my best friends wedding! I am so proud to be her Matron of Honor and can't wait to stand by her side as she marries her best friend. (ok I'm also a little nervous about giving a speech!)

Kaitlin (I know you will read this eventually), I just want you to know how happy I am for you and that I am so unbelievably excited to spend this weekend celebrating with you. Love you always! xoxo

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YAY IT'S FINALLY FRIDAY! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend :)

6 Months

Holy cow, I have a 6 month old! I'm not sure how or when that happened, but it did. Time is flying by and my itty bitty baby isn't so itty bitty anymore.

Yesterday we had her 6 month appointment and she weighs 18lbs 10ozs and is 27 1/2 inches long.

See? Not so litte anymore.

Not a whole lot has changed since the 5 month post.

She rolls a lot now, instead of just every once in awhile like before. Now I am wondering how I will ever get her to crawl since the moment I put her on her stomach she is flipping right back over haha.

She is talking up a storm and saying different things like ba-ba and da-da, but not because she knows what she is saying it's just coming out. Hopefully soon she will start to actually say Da-Da for Vince and Ma-Ma for me. I can't wait for that.

She has a tooth on the bottom. It looks like one of the top ones is starting to poke through, but I can't really tell.

Sleeping has actually gotten worse. From 3 months to 5 months she was sleeping through the night about 90% of the time. And I don't mean she would sleep like 6 hours. She would sleep a full 10-11 hours straight. I don't think I fully appreciated how nice that was, until she started waking up again. Shortly after turning 5 months old she started waking up again. For about 2 weeks she was up twice at night. She hadn't done that since she was like a month or so old. It was torture. Thankfully she is now only getting up once a night to eat and then goes back to sleep, but I am hoping to get her back to sleeping through the night again soon. Hopefully..

She makes faces and has such a little personality. She squishes up her nose and makes a snorting kind of noise when we play. It makes us laugh every single time. (I tried to get a picture of it, but so far haven't had much luck.)

She eats like a champ. She was just eating solids at dinner, but a couple weeks ago we started solids for breakfast too. I usually do fruit for breakfast and veggies for dinner. We also started giving her some of the Gerber puffs and the yogurt bites to try to teach her how to self feed. She loves the food, but she is still picking it up with her fist and then puts her fist to her mouth but can't figure out how to get the food in her mouth. So yea, it's a work in progress haha.

Sippee cups are also a work in progress. She will hold it and bring it ot her mouth, but she hasn't quite figured out to tilt the cup up to get out the water. Sometimes she does, but usually she gets frustrated and just drops the cup. She will figure it out eventually lol.

Ok, so I thought not a lot had changed, but after writing this I guess more has changed than I realized.

My little girl really is growing up so fast and I am loving watching her grow and change literally every day. Before I know it I will be planning her first birthday. I can't decide if that makes me excited or sad. I guess a little of both.

The Little Things.

You always hear people saying "it's the little things that mean that most". And lately I am finding that statement to be so very true.

A couple different people have done some really sweet things for me recently that have made me stop and take time to be really grateful for all of the friends in my life.

A couple of my best friends from college were up visiting last month and while we were catching up I told them about a difficult time I had been going through recently. I actually hadn't talked to anyone other than Vince about it and it was nice just being able to have them there to listen. Then a couple weeks later I got a book in the mail from one of the girls. It was a book about someone who had been going through a similar situation. When I realized she sent it and that she had taken the time to do that for me, it brought me to tears. It was something little, that meant so much. It reminded me how lucky I am to blessed with such good friends in my life.

Then last week at work a co-worker and I had been talking about our kids. She has two boys, one is 5 and one is 2. I was asking her for advice on what kind of sippy cups to start Kaylee off with. A couple days after our conversation I came to work and there was a bag sitting on my chair in my office that just had a little note saying "These were the sippy cups my boys liked when they were Kaylee's age." She had taken the time to go out and buy me a couple different kinds to try. It was so kind of her and completely unexpected.

These things may not seem like a big deal to some people, but to me they were. They made me feel cared about and put a smile on my face. It makes me want to try to do more things like this for my friends and people I care about. Vince has always been so good about remembering to do the little things and I need to put more of an effort in doing the same for him too. It's important to remember that doing something small for someone can really make their day. Everyone deserves something sweet like that once in awhile.

So that's my new personal goal, to try to be better about doing the little things for the people in my life.


Happy Wednesday :)

When did we get so old?

Last night the Eagles had a game. In previous years Vince and I would have been all about Monday night football. We would have either been out at a bar watching the game or ordering food and having a few people over.

Obviously since having a baby things change, but we still wanted to watch the game. So the plan was to put Kaylee to bed at 8pm like usual and then we would have a few beers, watch the game, and hangout just the two of us.

Well... I laid Kaylee down in her crib and then went back downstairs. I was fully expecting to find Vince watching all of the pregame shows, but instead I found him passed out on the couch. He was sound asleep. Apparently all of the rolling on the floor earlier with Kaylee had worn him out ;) 

So I woke him up and told him the game was starting. He turned his head to look at the TV for a minute and then said "how about we just go upstairs and watch the game in bed". Sounded good to me, I was way too tired to drink anyways.

We got upstairs, laid in bed, and watched about 10 minutes of the game before we were both falling asleep. By 9pm we decided to turn the TV off and go to bed.

As we were going to sleep Vince and I had this conversation:

 Vince - When did we get so old that we can't stay up to watch football?

Me - umm... probably about 6 months ago when we became parents..

Vince - Yeah. (pause) Well, it's totally worth it.

Having an baby is exhausting, but he's right it is totally worth it. Besides, when I woke up this morning and found out the Eagles lost, I was glad we didn't stay up to watch it.

Happy Tuesday :)

Family weekend, sippy cups, and a broken garage door

November, really? How is that even possible? I can't believe Christmas is next month already. This year is just going way too fast for me.

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This past weekend I had such a good time hanging out with my little family. We got to spend a ton of time just playing with Kaylee. We finally watched Bad Teacher (which was pretty funny). Saturday we had a our first snow. Even though I am not a fan of winter it was kind of nice to be able to stay curled up inside by the fire for the afternoon. We had Vince's parents over for dinner later that night. Sunday Vince and I actually got to go on a little date for the first time in awhile. We went out to lunch and to a movie. It was nice and well overdue. Kaylee wore her Halloween costume to Sunday family dinner (since the Halloween parade was cancelled due to the snow). After Kaylee was in bed we finished the weekend with a little wine and Friday Night Lights (Vince is hooked on this show now too).

All in all it was a perfectly nice, relaxing weekend.

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Eating solids has been going great so I decided it was time to start trying sippy cups too. (we aren't giving her juice just water and occasionally I will put her formula in there instead) At first she didn't get it at all, but the past couple of days she is holding it and bringing it to her mouth to drink. After a minute of so she usually just ends up laughing and playing with it, but it's funny to watch and she is slowly getting the hang of it.

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Yesterday morning when we were both getting ready to leave for work Vince went to open the garage door and it wasn't working. No idea what happened, but it's completely jammed and broken. At first we couldn't even get it to manually open at all and I was worried we weren't going to be able to get our cars out. Thankfully after a playing with it Vince got the door open, but it's still messed up and super annoying. We called the builder to come fix it (thankfully since it's new construction everything is still under warranty) hopefully he can get it done sometime this week.

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I have the best mom ever.

Vince and I have a wedding in December that is in the city and won't be over until late so I was going to need to get someone to watch Kaylee overnight. (Vince's parents and brothers are all going to the wedding too so that wasn't an option) Vince's aunt offered to keep her at her house and I said OK, but was already kind of stressing out about leaving her all night for the first time. So my mom called and offered to fly here for the weekend and watch her for us. It makes me feel SO much better about leaving her knowing she is going to still be at home in her own crib (plus there's really no one I trust more than my mom to watch her).

Now I can look forward to a night out and not have to worry (OK... I'll probably still worry, but not as much!). So a BIG thank you to my mom, love you! :)

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Hope you all had a great Halloween, I loved seeing everyone's costumes!

Bad Blogger

I'm such a bad blogger.

The thing is I want to blog, I just can't seem to find the time to blog lately. Throughout the day I think of a bunch of random things I want to write about, but then never get a chance to actually do it. Right now my life is on such a set schedule. I think I may need to actually schedule time for blogging.

As of now Monday - Friday my days look almost always like this:

I get up, get K and myself dressed and fed and ready for the day (Vince is usually already heading out the door by the time we get up). Drop her off at daycare on my way to work. Get done work and pick her up by 5.

Then go home, change her, put her in highchair and feed her dinner. Then let her hangout either there or in her bouncy seat while I make dinner for Vince and I (and talk and/or sing to her to keep her entertained).

Around 6 Vince gets home and we eat, then we spend the next 1-2 hours finally getting to play with Kaylee. This is by far the best part of my day. When Vince was still working nights I missed having him home for this part more than anything else.

By 8 (at the latest) it's time for her bath and bed. So by 8:30 I finally get to sit down and just relax. Before I would either blog or play on the computer to keep me busy while I waited for Vince to get home at 11. But now it's my time to just hangout and curl up with him on the couch for a little.

Then we head to bed and start the whole thing over the next day.

I'm honestly not complaining at all. I like this schedule, it works for us. I get to spend time every night as a family as well as just with my husband. For a year and half he wasn't around at nights, so I am so grateful that we now have this time together again. Heck we haven't even had a dinner together before 11pm in forever, and now we are usually asleep before then. It's a nice change :)

So, I do want to find time to blog, but right now it's just not so easy. I am going to work on it.

Those of you that are so good at keeping up with your blogs, please tell me how/when do you do it?? Obviously I could use a little advice ;)

Happy Friday!

TGIF!

Sorry I have been completely MIA, but it's just been on those weeks. I am very much looking forward to a weekend to relax and spend time with my family. Hope everyone has a good weekend! TGIF :)

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This week was the first official week of Vince working his new job. Which means it was the first week in a year and half that I had a husband home at night during the week. I don't think I realized how much I had missed having him there just to hangout with, help with Kaylee, and have dinner with. I actually made dinner every night and we were able to eat at a normal time instead of 11pm like we've gotten used to. To say it is a nice change, would be an extreme understatement.

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The lady who watches Kaylee during the week at daycare is also going to watch her for a couple of hours on Saturday night. Vince's parents are taking the family out for a nice dinner to celebrate Vince's new job and the place they picked isn't really a kid friendly type of restaurant. So, she said she would watch her for us. It's only a couple of hours and I am obviously comfortable leaving Kaylee with her (probably more comfortable with her than almost anyone else), but for whatever reason I still just don't like leaving her in the evenings like that. I wish we had earlier reservations so I could be home in time for her bath and to put her to bed. I know it will be nice to get out, but I also know I will be checking my watch constantly and wanting to get home to go get her. I hate being like that, and am hoping as she gets older I will learn to relax and enjoy my time out a little more.

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This weekend it's supposed to be sunny and in the 60s. Which is perfect fall weather. I love it. I want to find something for us to do outside on Sunday as a family. Last Sunday we went to a local pumpkin patch and just walked around and got a few things from the store there. Kaylee is obviously too little to really care, but she likes being in her stroller and being outside. Maybe we will just walk to the park and put her in the swings (which she loves).  Can't wait for next year when she is old enough to start enjoying hayrides and all those types of fall activities :)

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I forgot to add in Kaylee's 5 month post that she finally got her first tooth! It came in on Tuesday last week. I have tried multiple times to get a picture of it, but it's on the bottom and she keeps sticking her tongue out and covering it up haha. Thankfully she didn't get too fussy, if it weren't for the insane amounts of drool I wouldn't have known she was teething. I am wondering if part of her being sick this week has to do with her getting more teeth soon??

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The past few days I have heard people mention Christmas shopping. I haven't even thought about Christmas yet. I don't know what to get Vince for our anniversary in November, let alone what to get for Christmas. I guess I need start making lists for what to get for everyone, but seriously where did the year go?? Last Christmas I was finding out whether we were having a boy or a girl and this year I will have a 7 month old! Crazy how things change in a year!

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Happy Friday :)

5 months

I know I say this all of the time, but I feel like Kaylee is getting so big SO fast! I can't believe she is now 5 months old! (technically she was 5 months last week on the 6th)

 I don't normally do a post for each month, but this month I feel like I should at least document it somehow because she has just changed so much!

Each day I see her learning or doing something new.

She has discovered the world of toys. She used to just stare and swat at toys on her play mat. Then a couple months ago she started holding rattles or small toys, but now she is actually playing with toys. She has a bunch that light up and play music that can keep her entertained for awhile. Her favorite right now is this caterpillar that when she hit it's legs different sounds or songs play. I love watching how excited she gets while she plays.

Over the past couple of weeks she has started sitting up and rolling over. She isn't rolling all over the room yet, just flipping from front to back (she's still not a fan of being on her stomach) and then occasionally back to front when there's a toy or something she is reaching for. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before I lay her on the floor and come back and can't find her because she has rolled to the other side of the room ;)

Every night she eats solids for dinner. We mix some kind of fruit or veggies with a little rice cereal. When she first started about a month ago she wouldn't eat too much, but now she usually eats an entire jar of food. She has tried bananas, apples, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, and peas. So far I haven't found anything she won't eat, but green beans seem to be her favorite for now.

The first few months of sleeping were a challenge, but since then she has been pretty good.  I give her a bath at 8 and by 8:30 (at the latest) she is asleep. She usually sleeps straight through until morning now. There are still times where she wakes up in middle of the night, but if she does she is up for about 15 minutes and then goes back to sleep pretty easily. Typically she wakes up between 6 and 6:30am, but everyday can be different. Sometimes it's as early as 5am and other times (like today) it's as late as 7:30am. I prefer the latter of the two.

I'm not sure her exact weight right now since we didn't have an appointment this month, but at 4 months she was 15lbs and 25 1/2 inches. She was in the 80th percentile for weight and 90th for height, so she's a big little girl ;)

Overall Vince and I are proud to see her thriving and growing constantly, but mostly we just love that she is so happy now. As I've mentioned before she was colicy in the beginning and then around 3 months started medicine for acid reflux so it took awhile to get everything sorted out. But now she is feeling better and is filling our days with lots of smiles and laughing constantly.

Can't wait to see what the next few months bring once she starts getting more mobile and able to really start exploring ;)

Love that smile.

The many faces of Miss Kaylee Rae

Happy Friday :)

The Big Debate

As I mentioned yesterday I have been extremely indecisive about what I want to do with work. I have been debating back and forth about whether I want to stay home or if I want to continue to work? (I'm not saying that staying home isn't work)

If you had asked me this quetsion last year while I was pregnant my answer would have always been I want to work. Not that I didn't want to be home with my daughter, but I liked working and wasn't ready to give that up.

Then if you asked me that question while I was on maternity leave after my daughter was home I would have always answered that I wanted to stay home. At that point I would cry anytime someone mentioned me having to go back to work.

I considered switching to part time (thankfully that was an option for me) or possibly even staying home, but in the end decided to go back to work full time and just see how things went.

Now that I've been back at work for about 3 months I'm not sure what my answer is to that question anymore. We are at a place now that I could stay home, it's just whether or not it's what's best for us.

I miss Kaylee like crazy everyday when I am not home with her. I hate that I only get a few hours with her at night during the week and I worry I'm going to miss it the first time she crawls or says her first words. Plus even though I'm working outside of our home, I still have work at home. Like everyone else I have cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. that still needs to get done everyday. It was hard trying to figure out the right way to balance both working and being a mom and a wife. But lately I feel like I have finally started to get the hang of it.

We have a good schedule and routine that works for us. Kaylee is doing amazingly well at daycare. I had been so worried about it before, but it has worked out better than I could have imagined. I think it's actually a really good thing for her. I am enjoy getting back to work and getting a little bit of me time even if it is while working. I like the feeling I get every day at 5 when I can rush out the doors and go pick her up. There is nothing better than the smile I get as soon as she sees me. It makes my day, every single day.

Then there's always an option of going part time. My boss had mentioned it awhile ago, before I was even on maternity leave, but there are some things that would still need to be figured out to see how that would really work.

So now I'm stuck on what to do. Not just what I want to do, but what is best for us. If I decide to quit and stay home I wonder what I will do in a few years when she starts preschool or later when she's in elementary school all day. Will I then try to go back to work? Or will we have more kids by then? (we go back and forth about that decision too) Am I ready at 26 to never work again? I don't know.

But on the other hand, I know I would love staying home. It would give me so much more time with her and I would be able to sign her up for classes when she's older like swimming or mommy and me dance classes (yes I used to dance and have already looked at these classes for her lol). I also wonder am I going to look back in 20 years and wish I had stayed home and not missed a second of her growing up. Then again having the extra money is nice and means we can provide even more for Kaylee or any future children. So even though we can afford for me to stay home, is that what's best for our future? Again, I don't know.

Of course I have heard everyones opinions. The good and bad for both sides. But I need to make the right decision for my family, not for anyone else. I don't judge what other people choose to do so I would hope other people don't judge me that way.

So now that I just finished writing all of that out and reading it over, I think it's clear to see that I am just too indecisive to make a decision either way. I think I need to take some time and sort it all out. For now I should just be grateful that I have options and can take the time to decide.

*just to clarify this is in no way saying I think one decision is better than the other. I think everyone makes the right choice for them. this is just me trying to figure out which choice that is.

All Over the Place

My head is all over the place today, so as a result you get a very random post with a little bit of everything. Enjoy ;)

I have been so tired the past few days and just can't seem to shake it. My daughter actually sleeps most nights (knock on wood), so I can't really blame her anymore but I feel like a walking zombie.

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This past weekend Vince went to Missouri to do something for my dad so Kaylee and I stayed home all weekend long. It was kind of nice to be at home with nothing we had to do, we could just in comfy clothes and lounge around all weekend. (we may have done just a little shopping too ;))

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I jumped on the bandwagon and bought season 1 of Friday Night Lights and started that while Vince was away. I have to say it really is a good show, definitely sad at times but still so good. I only have 2 episodes left (I stayed up way too late watching this show.. maybe that's why I've been so tired..)in this season and will be going to go pick up season 2 right away. (yes I know I could just get it through netflix, but for some reason I almost always buy dvds. I like having a large movie collection. Plus both my mom and sister want me to pass these on to them when I'm done so they will definitely get used)

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Speaking of TV shows, I think I have a serious addiction. I watch way too many shows. Plus with the addition of all of the new shows this season my DVR is now always full. I can't help it, after Kaylee's in bed I love to just relax and watch all the stupid drama.  My new favorites are Heart of Dixie (LOVE this show! Plus for you FNL fans Jason Street is the main guy in the show) and Secret Circle. My older favorites are still Gossip Girl and Grey's, Vince actually watches these ones with me which is nice. Not to mention all of the reality shows like Project Runway, Dance Moms, and anything with the Kardashians. See? I told you I have a problem.

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Lately I keep going back and forth about what I want to do with work. I don't want to get too into this right now, but long story short I got a job offer which would have involved us moving about 15 hours away. Before the offer came we had discussed the possibility of moving and both agreed we wanted to, but then the day before I got the offer Vince got a new position at work. So we went back and forth on which was better for us and decided to stay here.

I wasn't actually looking for a new job before I was informed about that position, but now I'm not sure what I want to do. Do I want to stay where I am and go part time? Or just continue with what I am doing and stay full time? Should I look for something new all together or try to stay home instead? Ahh.. I'm not normally this indecisive, but I literally change my mind every single day. Oh well, guess I will eventually figure it out.

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On a more exciting note.. My mom and dad are in Vegas right now. (he has a convention for work and she tagged along to go to the spa.. yes I am jealous of her life right now..) Anyways, she called me last night and said she told my dad she wants to take a girls trip with just me, her and my sister to Vegas later this year for her 50th birthday. Hells yes. I have been to Vegas a few times in the past for work, but never for a vacation. Plus a trip with my mom and sister anywhere sounds fabulous to me. So hopefully we can figure out a time between my sisters college schedule and my work schedule to actually make it happen, because it sounds like a perfect idea ;) 

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This weekend 2 of my best friends from college are coming to visit and I can't wait! It's been too long and we have SO much to catch up on. I think a girls weekend is just what the Doctor ordered ;)

Alright well that's it for now.. hope you all are having a good week so far!