Ali's First Vacation

Ali went on her first vacation to Destin, Florida at the beginning of December. It was two planes each direction. She did pretty well - she slept on the first flight going there but was awake the whole time on the second flight. She did pretty well there as well except for the major problem that she did not like her crib and wouldn't nap in it at all and would only sleep in it for a few hours at night. Luckily it was vacation so there was nothing we had to do and we could lounge around during the day. Of course Florida was in the midst of a cold spell while we were there (meanwhile Colorado was unseasonably warm) so it was actually about the same temperatures in Destin as in Denver. This didn't stop us from enjoying the beach though - we made a point of walking the beach everyday.

Here is Ali her first time on the beach. It was a little chilly this day (thus the coat) but she loved the sand! She kept picking up handfuls and letting it run through her fingers. And she tried to eat it of course!

We were fortunate that our last day there (Friday) was pretty nice (low 70's) so Ali got to dip her toes in the ocean and sit on the beach while dad and grandpa played in the ocean.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have been super slacking on the blog lately so I will get a few different posts up in the next day or two. Ali's first Thanksgiving was great - we had everyone (my parents, Jesse's parents, Molly and her boyfriend) at our house. We made the turkey, stuffing, gravy, and sweet potatoes. We tried a new recipe off Cook's Illustrated (GREAT recipes) for the turkey and the stuffing and they both turned out really well! The turkey was moist and flavorful and the stuffing as the best I have ever had - not too dry but not too greasy either.

Ali enjoyed her Thanksgiving dinner too - she had some turkey baby food, some of our mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, and she even got to try a little pumpkin pie! She was entertaining everyone making faces and sticking her tongue out (I think she likes the feel of her new teeth!)

We notice Ali's second bottom tooth Thanksgiving morning. She is such a great teether - I tend to not even notice her getting a new tooth until I see or feel it once it is in! Here is Ali showing off her new teeth!

We had a great time with everyone and really enjoy hosting Thanksgiving at our house.

The day after Thanksgiving we pulled out the Christmas decorations and set up the tree. Love it!


Ali turned 9 months old right before Thanksgiving - so hard to believe how grown up that is! So much more aware! Ali loves her toys and books now and one of her favorite games is to pull all the toys or books out of her boxes.

The hospital where Ali was born just opened a new Labor and Delivery wing and they gathered photos from anyone born at Lutheran for a new wall of photos - this is Ali checking out her picture that we submitted.

Happy halloween!

Happy Halloween!

We had a three different parties to dress up for so that made it worth coming up with something good so we decided to go as the Incredibles.
Ali looks surprisingly like the baby Incredible Jack Jack naturally (I know she is a girl and Jack Jack is a boy but you can't really tell with babies anyway). She has the spikey hair (we used a little mousse to really make it stand up), the round face, and the big eyes - all she needed was a red sleeper. Sounds easy enough but actually impossible (I don't know if anyone else has ever noticed but there is NO solid color baby stuff - it all has prints and such). Fortunately nana came to the rescue and made a perfect red sleeper. Jesse and I did Mr. and Mrs. Incredible a few years ago so we already had most of what we needed (although we did take the opportunity to improve on our costumes a bit).

We dressed up for two parties (a 1st birthday and a Halloween party) and we went to see Jesse's Aunt, Uncle, and cousins in Cherry Creek for Halloween night. It was a great place to be for Trick or Treating - kids running from house to house getting candy and the parents just trying to keep up! A few houses were doing Trick or Drink for the adults too which was great (why should the kids have all the fun?)

As usual it was very fun to see Ali and Rowan together - they are both so big now! They both sit on their own and they were both in a pretty good mood so I could finally get a lot of really cute pictures of them.

Rowan (7 months) and Ali (8 months)

For anyone who has seen the TV show "Raising Hope" this is Ali dressed as Hope.

This was an accidental costume - I thought it would be cute for Ali to wear this giraffe hat to church. The hat came with one of her newborn outfits thought so it now pretty small. As soon as I put it on her I started laughing because it made her look like the baby who plays Hope since she is always wearing a super small hat (there's a picture of Hope in a hat at this link http://www.tvguide.com/News/Ask-Matt-Raising-1024944.aspx).

Since I have been so bad about blogging here is other Ali catchup news.

She is now 8 months old and sits all by herself (and LOVES it!) She still loves solids and has tried so many things now I have pretty much lost count of them all. There hasn't been anything she hasn't liked but she definitely has favorites (bananas, sweet potatoes, pears). She babbles so much dadada being one of the newest. Some of her babbling sounds like "hi dada" - so cute! She has made the "ma" sound a couple of times now so I look forward to mama soon :)

She is taking a baby signing class which we really enjoy and she is starting to pick up some signs - SO amazing! She signs more, dog, milk, and just this morning she signed dad to Jesse in class! I am sure she has more but I am so bad at recognizing her signs still (I am getting better though).

She still has no teeth (I am not complaining though) and she doesn't crawl (also not complaining). But she does roll like a champ (all the way across the room if she wants to. She does get up on her hands and knees sometimes now though so I don't think crawling is super far off.

I love my days home with Ali and am so impressed with everything is is learning. I am very excited for the upcoming holiday season as well.

Graduation Day!

Just realized that it has been a while since I have updated the blog. We are chugging along here at the White House. Ali is over 7 months old already - so hard to believe! At the end of September she graduated from the Survival for New Moms class we have been attending at the hospital since she was 6 weeks old. It was a wonderful experience and I met so many amazing moms and babies through the class.

Ali is such a big girl these days -

Sitting

She can sit by herself pretty well (although she isn't ready to sit on the wood floors yet since she still falls over quite a bit).

Moving

Ali doesn't crawl or scoot yet but will roll over and over and over and move pretty far pretty quickly. It is funny to watch and she gets so mad when she gets rolled up against furniture or the wall and can't move anymore!

Eating and Drinking

She has some solids everyday and LOVES them! She eats a pretty large amount too - she eat primarily homemade baby food so I am not sure about the amount all days but I would guess she eats a whole baby food jar worth most days. She loves bananas and sweet potatoes but there hasn't been anything she has refused (she was not crazy about avocado or chicken but I think that was more texture related than taste). She also love drinking water from a cup - she enjoys playing with her sippy cup or drinking from a real cup with help. She loves watching us fill our glasses with water from the refrigerator and she gets really excited!

Everything in the Mouth!

She is definitely at that stage - anything she can get her hands on she wants to put in her mouth and she grabs at EVERYTHING! Papers, straws, food . . . anything we are holding she wants. The other day she got a hold of Jesse's popsicle and she grabbed the straw out of my drink just yesterday.

I posted tons of new pictures on the shutterfly site (rockymountainwhitehouse.shutterfly.com) and here a couple other cute ones.

Ali and "cousin" Rowan (actually Jesse's cousin but she is 1 month younger than Ali)

Safety First!

Jesse and I were cutting wood for some shelves we are building for Ali's room and put the safety glasses on her (she didn't actually need them though - Ali and I left the garage everytime Jesse used the saw).

Outdoor labor for labor day

We spent most of Labor Day weekend working outside. We started (several years ago then again in July) trying to move the rocks around the shrubs in front of our house. There were so many weeds in the rocks that we wanted to put down weed fabric and ended up deciding to move the rocks and replace them with mulch. Turned out to be an enormous amount of work but we finally got it done! Nana came Saturday and watched Ali so Jesse and I could both work (which was a huge help) then we were able to finish Sunday while Ali napped in the afternoon.

Also, Ali is a super star baby. We went to small group last night - we figured it would be a little sketchy since it doesn't start until 6:30 pm and Ali normally goes down for the night between 6:30 and 7 but we wanted to try going anyway. She ended up falling asleep on Jesse for about an hour. I was worried thinking that after "napping" she wouldn't want to sleep when we got home. So we came home and I fed her and as I had worried she was wide awake! However, I put her in her crib so I could get ready for bed and she whined for less than a minute and then put herself to sleep! If that is not enough she proceeded to sleep through the night then play quietly in her crib for over a half an hour in the morning! Wow - feeling very lucky! :)

Happy Half Birthday Baby Girl!

Hard to believe that little Ali is already 6 months old. She rolls, smiles, laughs, and "talks". She has started solids and is super close to sitting. She loves her jumperoo and toys. She has come a long way from the little 6 lb 9 oz newborn to today around the 75th percentile.

I love her more with each passing day and she has been the greatest gift in the world. Even when she is being difficult I treasure every moment with her and look forward to what all the days to come will bring.

Look how far I've come!

Walk, Wedding, and Sweet Potatoes

We had a wonderful (and busy) weekend last weekend. We started off meeting friends of mine and their daughters for a walk at Wash park. We had a wonderful time - Ali was very well behaved even though we circled the park twice (Ali loves walking and I think she stays cozy and not too hot in her BOB stroller). Here is Ali with her friend Elyse.

Then Saturday morning we got an early start and headed back to Gunnison for Kyla and Joe's wedding. This was our second trip to Gunny this summer - we had Mario's again and had a great time at the wedding.

Jesse saw this tiny adarondack chair at the wedding and put Ali in it. It was the cutest thing ever and I am desperate to find one so that Ali can have a chair to match Jesse's and mine at home.

Ali was wishing that cake could have been her second solid to be introduced. I think she will be pretty fun with her first birthday cake.

It was chilly Saturday night and Sunday morning so Ali go to where the adorable outfit honorary Aunt Cansas bought her when she was just a newborn. It was so cute - she looked like a little polar bear!

Ali has also moved on from rice cereal and has now had sweet potatoes as well. She really seemed to enjoy them and I think the second time she actually kept some in her mouth instead of just wearing them :)

I got all set up with weekend to make my own baby food for Ali. I am super excited to give it a try but will have to wait until I have the day off Wednesday. I bought an apple and a peach at the store today to use for baby food and am interested to see what she thinks of fruit.

First Solids!

Ali had her first meal of solids last evening! Rice cereal mixed with milk.

She has been acting very interested when other people are eating for the last week or two - watching, opening and moving her mouth - which is a sign of readiness. She got the ok from the pediatrician at 4 months but didn't seem interested until more recently.

She did great! She loved playing with the bib and the spoon and ate pretty well too. She did great opening her mouth and I think was even getting some swallowed by the end of the meal.

First Hotel Stay and Meeting Grandma and Grandpa Indiana

We went back to Gunnison last weekend for my 10 year high school reunion. The highlight of the trip was definitely the half and half salad from Mario's - so delicious!

We hadn't been back since before my parents moved so it was great to be in Gunnison again - it is so beautiful in the summer (although hotter than I remembered and would have liked). We stayed at at hotel which went well and was great since we got to take Ali swimming for the first time! The video shows Ali going into the pool for the first time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KNr9MiWcaQ

The reunion was nice too - neat to catch up with people and hear what everyone is up to now that we are all grown up :). It was also great to catch up with my old gymnastics coaches at the Gunnison gymnasts reunion.

This weekend Ali got to meet "great grandma and great grandpa Indiana". My grandparents drove down from Indiana and were in Fort Collins for the weekend so we stayed with my parents and got some wonderful family time.

So fun to see everyone with Ali and I am so thankful she has so much great family from both me and Jesse. We also managed a quick side trip to visit with our friend Amy and Brandon and their two girls.

Ali will be 5 months old tomorrow (I can't believe it) and I think she is ready for a weekend off. She is pretty exhausted from all the travel and excitement the last two weekends (although you wouldn't know it right now as she is refusing to go to sleep).

In other Ali news she is pro-roller from tummy to back (it is still somewhat infrequent although she did it three times in a row tonight and did show off her rolling skills for Molly this morning). And she has rolled from back to tummy. Calee took care of Ali last week while I was at work. Before I left Tuesday morning she says to me "what do I do when Ali rolls onto her tummy during her nap?" I responded saying "She did???" That one was definitely a fluke though since she has yet to roll onto her tummy when she is awake (although she does get very close sometimes).

Ali laughing

Cutest video ever! I posted this on Facebook but thought I ought to post here too.

Ali laughed big time like this for the first time right at 4 months. This video was taken in the evening on July 6, 2010.

Size Comparison

My mom has been wanting a new size comparison so here it is!

Ali seems to be catching up with me on length (she is now the same length I was at 3 months) and has now surpassed me on weight :) Ali still has no shot of catching Jesse on either measure but I think that is a good thing! She has definitely slowed down the weight gain a lot (but I hear that is normal at this age) so I am interested to see where she falls percentage wise at her 6 month appointment.

Rock and Roll Baby!

Ali rolls! She rolled tummy to back twice Friday night and once this afternoon.

I ordered Ali a baby floor gym (a mat with toys hanging on arcs above it) since she is no longer as entertained by the fan but loves when someone dangles toys above her. It arrived Friday and I set it up and put her on it. She liked looking at the toys so I rolled her to her tummy to look in the mirror. She quickly rolled back over to her back. The first time I thought it was a fluke - maybe I hadn't rolled her all the way to her tummy I thought. So I put her back on her tummy and she did it again! This time she got stuck for a minute - she rolled her shoulders but left her hips and legs behind - she did get them over though just as Jesse walked back upstairs. Of course Ali refused to roll over again so Jesse could see.

I tried to get her to roll over several times yesterday with no luck but then she did it again this afternoon (in the gym again). Ali has still refused to show off her new skill for Jesse but she took a good long nap this afternoon so I am hopeful she will roll again this evening.

We may be onto something!

Ali slept through the night two nights in a row now (and 3 out of the last 4 nights)! I have to admit it is pretty nice :)

We had a great 4th of July. We went to church and the BBQ afterward which was delicious! We had a relaxing afternoon at home before heading to our friend Cook's house for the evening. Ali was wonderfully behaved all evening but she is quite a party animal! She only napped for a few minutes the whole time we were there and she was up WAY past her normal bedtime! She was great though - she was happy to play on the floor and observe everyone.

She looked super cute in her 4th of July outfit from her great grandma Lib. Once I get the pictures uploaded I will add a pic of her in the outfit to this post.

What a Big Girl!

Ali had her four month doctor visit on Monday and she looks great! She weighted 14 lb 13 oz (76%) and was 23.75 in long (29%). She is maintaining her weight curve and is moving up in length percentile! She was a champ for her vaccines again - she hates the taste of the oral one but does so great with the shot. No fever again - I am very happy about that.

Ali is still fasting when I am at work (she refuses the bottle and just sleeps until I get home). So most days she ends up not eating for about 6 hours in the afternoon. The first time she did this a few weeks back she made up for it by eating a ton at night. Luckily she hasn't done that again but I keep thinking she will. Yesterday she did the same thing - came and nursed just before noon and didn't eat again until I got home at 5. She ate a ton throughout the evening and I fed her last and put her to bed at 7:45 pm. She was wide awake and kicking around when I put her down but she put herself to sleep anyway - what a great baby! Then she slept until 4:30 am! And she didn't wake up crying! She woke up and was happily kicking around in the bassinet making noises (but not crying!). I picked her up and fed her (she ate a ton) and she was still wide awake but again she put herself back to sleep until she got up for the day around 7:30 am.

I can barely believe our good luck - she sleeps through the night - and with no effort at all on our part! :) I still don't expect it all the time but I am so relieved that it does happen. I was pretty on the fence about doing any "sleep training" type things. Our pediatrician just sent info home about getting them to sleep through the night and I just wasn't crazy about the suggestions. At this point I am pretty confident in believing that she is developing great sleep habits all on her own and will sleep through the night consistently before too long all on her own!

6th Wedding Anniversary and Father's Day

Last weekend was busy but fun.

We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary last Friday. It was pretty low key but enjoyable. Jesse worked a half day and we ate lunch together in the backyard. My mom bought Jesse an unfinished adirondack chair for Father's Day so he spent the afternoon staining the chair and I sat outside and knitted while Ali napped. We had dinner at home and spend the evening reminiscing about the past 6 years. Our travels (Germany, Hawaii, and Pennsylvania Christmas) were some of our favorite memories but we also looked back fondly on our first months together in the apartment with no furniture. It was a great evening laughing together.

Father's Day

Dad's with their babies

Ali started off Father's Day by giving Jesse her present of sleeping in so we could have a relaxing morning. We went to church and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Jesse's parents treated him to Old Chicago's in the afternoon and then we joined Brian, Julie and the girls for a delicious dinner.

Ali will be 4 months old tomorrow so I got all her fourth month pictures uploaded to the shutterfly site this afternoon.

Progress!

Ali had a great day Tuesday. Her nana (my mom) watched her while I was at work and got her to take 2 oz from the bottle! Yay! Still not nearly as much as she would normally eat at a feeding but that is much better than she has done in weeks (certainly better than none which is what she was doing for a while) and is a definite step in the right direction.

Then Ali slept until 4 am Wednesday morning! We had trouble getting Ali down for bed Tuesday night - she didn't go to sleep until 9:45 pm but then she slept great until 4 am - Yay! She has been getting up more during the night recently so this was a welcome change :)

Nicknames

I just read a funny blog that a friend wrote about nicknames which got me thinking about all of Ali's nicknames. Nicknames are funny things - who knows where they come from sometimes and why some of them stick but they do.

I will start off by saying I am apparently a nickname lover probably thanks to my dad. I didn't expect Jesse to be such a nicknamer but he is as well.

Now we choose Aletheia with the intention of called her Ali - I love Aletheia for a name but it is a lot of name for a little baby plus no one can ever pronounce it so for now Ali is perfect. So I don't really count that one . . . but all the rest . . .

First of all, I have the tendency to call her "Al" - really Al? Is two syllables too many for me? And Al? I don't know about you but it makes me pictures a middle aged balding fat man not a gorgeous little baby girl . . . Then there are all the rest of her nicknames (most of which I shared on the blog a few weeks back).

A lot of the time Ali ends up being called Princess or Pumpkin. Neither is really what I would choose as a nickname . . . Princess - what do I think of? A spoiled, rich, entitled little girl. The little girl part is fine but the rest I could do without . . . and Pumpkin - a big round orange fruit (or is it a vegetable?). I don't associate any of those things with little Ali but the nicknames stuck all the same (and as for how they started in the first place - who knows? They just came out).

Most of the others are just silly - wah-mbulance, fuss-apotomos - but still how do we come up with these?

Teething!

For the past few weeks Ali has not been sleeping well at night and has been fussier than normal (although as her nana says she is still a pretty easy girl). About a week ago she was doing this head turning thing while she was eating and she has been drooling and chewing on her fists a lot!

I had been attributing the poor sleeping to a growth spurt (since she is happy to eat everytime she wakes up) and the fussiness I thought was tiredness since she is so much more aware now and naps much less. We read the drooling is normal for her age and doesn't necessarily indicate teething and I figured the head turning thing was just that she was more aware and curious about what was going on around her. Then I realized - my poor baby is teething :(

Then the past few weeks a bunch of the moms in our new mom class have been talking about their babies teething (most of them older than Ali by a month or two but one younger). Yesterday I finally had an epiphany that all the new things going on could add up to teething. I managed to get a peek in her mouth this morning and there looked like there was a little indentation in the middle of her gums on the bottom. Then I got a chance to feel around tonight and there definitely feels like there is something going on.

I feel like she is too young to be teething already but realize she will be four month soon! And it does explain a lot. Especially the sudden cries. She will be perfectly happy then all the sudden she will do this sharp cry that sounds like she is in pain.

I hope she is not uncomfortable for too long - she seems so sad about it sometimes and I could really use the sleep :)

Getting so Big!

Ali is getting so big I can't believe it. I packed up all her newborn and 0-3 month cloths last week as well as her newborn and small size diapers. I can't believe she already fits into 3-6 month cloths - I remember opening them as gifts when Ali was brand new and thinking "How on Earth will this fit her in a few short months?" and now it does!

Ali has gotten very strong too. Jesse will fly her around like an airplane (which she loves) and she holds her whole body in line so well! She can also balance for a moment in sitting position and will weight bear on her legs (she has no real balance of her own standing though). She is not yet rolling over either way but looks so close! I think she could if she really wanted to but she tends to be pretty content however we lay her down and doesn't seem that motivated to roll over most of the time.

I have been told a lot of babies go through a phase around 3 months where they show a distinct preference for the breast of the bottle. Ali is definitely doing that - she has never taken the bottle very well but refuses it almost entirely right now. At one point she would consistently take 2 oz (even though at the time she would nurse 5 oz sometimes). That dropped to 1 oz with a lot of effort and recently she has refused it entirely most days (although Jesse did manage to get her to take almost 1 oz yesterday). I have to say I am not that surprised - Ali is much more opinionated these days about what she wants and when and there was never any question as to what she preferred for feeding!

She has not had another 8 hour stretch of sleep but I am hopeful she will again soon. She has been spreading out her daytime feedings from 2 -3 hours and I think longer time inbetween during the day and longer at night is too much for her right now. I am going to try shorter intervals during the day this week and hopefully she will sleep better at night!

Sleeping, Eating and all the other stuff

Ali slept through the night for the first time last night - sort of - but she did sleep for 8 hours straight! And Ali has started to spread out her daytime feedings to 3 hours (until the past couple days she still wanted to eat every 2 hours unless we were out and about and she was sleeping).

In the past month or so Ali has gotten much more predictable with her nighttime sleeping habits. She goes down for the night between 7:30 and 8:30 pm most nights and would do one 5 hour stretch and one 3 hour stretch between feedings. Sometimes she wouldn't even eat much when she woke up between 1 am and 2 am. Then Ali had her 3 month old growth spurt and was back to waking up multiple times a night (every 2 to 3 hours some nights). The past few nights she was basically back to her 5 and 3 hour stretches.

Then last night I woke up around 3:30 am and realized Ali hadn't woken up at all yet. I put her down around 7:45 pm and hadn't fed her since then - I did the math and realized she was only a few minutes short of 8 hours! Of course I worried that this was because something was wrong and I lay awake trying to hear her breath and waiting for her to make some noise trying to decide if I should just get up and check on her but worrying that if I did it would wake her up. She did make noise and I got up and checked on her without waking her. She did end up waking up around 3:45 am and ate really well. She woke up about two hours later and wanted to eat again.

This is very exciting - I am still not expecting this every night just yet but it is great to know there is light at the end of the tunnel!

In other Ali news . . .

She has now outgrown her 0-3 month cloths and is in her 3-6 month cloths! Luckily she has gotten some really cute stuff from people so we don't have to pick up much for her to be all set in that size. I am a little sad to see some of her 0-3 cloths packed away but glad she is growing so well :)

Ali and I had a busy week - she had her 3 month birthday Wednesday and got two more vaccines. She did very well again - I think most of her screaming was due to being woken up and put down on the table rather than the shots. Ali and I also went for a beautiful hike at Red Rocks with the Mountain Mamas group. This was hot but fun!

I am almost done with version 2 of my diaper wallet. The main difference is that this one has a removable wipes envelope. I am also putting together another Ali photo book for her first 3 months. I am trying a new program to make this one - it took a little work to figure it out but I really like it now.

12 Weeks Old

Our baby girl is already 12 weeks old! I cannot believe how much she has changed and grown in the past 12 weeks. Here is a little about Ali at 12 weeks.

She weighs about 13 pounds.

She smiles, makes noises (go, ga), and she watches everything!

We like to say she has a love affair with her changing table - she is so happy there! Ali will lay on her table and stare and smile - it is so cute! This is wonderful since it makes diaper changes a reasonably easy and pleasant experience. She also is obsessed with the ceiling fan in her room - her #1 fan we say. She will lay on the quilt grandma made her and happily stare at her fan. Most of our good pictures of her are taken on either her changing table or while she is staring at her fan.

She holds her head up well now and one of her favorite things is to be held in a sitting position facing me or Jesse. She will smile and talk and have a great time. She also enjoys standing on my lap. Especially when I am holding her to burp her she will straighten her legs and support her weight while leaning against me.

She loves being sung too and enjoys doing wheels on the bus. She has definitely started to develop a personality which is so fun!

We have also developed lots of nicknames for her -

princess

princess pea-a

Alicakes

Alisnacks

Chubster (Aunt Molly's nickname)

Alers

Wahmbulance

Whinacerous

Fussapatamous

Fussapata-princess

Grab and Go Diaper Wallet

To my friend with kids - especially those who cloth diaper. Check out my creation and let me know what you think. It is a diaper wallet with a magnetic closure (meant to carry a couple diapers and a package of wipes) but the new part is I have incorporated a wet bag into the design.

Closed

It measures about 7"x9"x3" with a partially full wipe pack and a pretty bulky cloth diaper inside.

Open

The diapers are stored behind the wipes pack which is easily accessible.

Wet Bag

The top unzips for a medium sized wet bag to store dirty diapers (or dirty cloths in the event of a diaper blowout).

I expect it will fit 1 - 5 diapers depending on the size and style.

Please let me know what you think and leave any comments and can incorporate into the second version. A couple things I had considered were:

- incorporating a changing pad as well but I thought it would be nicer to have that separate

- putting pockets on both sides (so when it is open wipes would be at the bottom and a pocket for diapers at the top)

Also, if anyone who sews has experience at putting zippers into a two layer bag such as this I would love pointers as I did not feel like my method worked well.

Growth Graphs

I graphed Ali's growth (weight and length) compared to Jesse's and mine. Pretty interesting to see - looks like Ali is passing up my infant weight and has always gained a little quicker (she had 1 pound of ground to make up since her birth weight was lower). However, I don't anticipate her catching up with Jesse *sigh of relief* :)

Aunt Molly in Town and Mother's Day

Molly was in town to see Ali Friday through Sunday. We really enjoyed having her for a few days. Ali loved getting extra cuddle time and I enjoyed having a little more time to get things done without needing to worry about what Ali needed. Jesse and I even got to go on our first date just the two of us since Ali was born while Molly watched Ali.

I had a wonderful first Mother's Day Sunday. Jesse took care of Ali Sunday morning so I got to sleep in until about 7:30 am (Ali gets up between 5 and 6 am so the extra time was luxurious). Jesse and Ali woke me up with my Mother's Day present. A couple of pandora charms for my bracelet - a baby bootie and an "A". Ali actually behaved very well while I showered and Molly took care of her while I dried my hair.

My parents came down Sunday as well so I had my whole family at church for Mother's Day which couldn't have been more perfect! We got some pictures taken before the service and after church we went out for Mother's Day brunch - delicious! Jesse and I took Ali for a walk in the afternoon and I completed my day with free Coldstone.

It was a wonderful day thanks to my awesome husband and family! Now I am looking forward to making sure Jesse has a wonderful Father's Day in June.

A Day in the Life

I decided it might be fun to write what our days look like right now.

2 am Ali wakes me up for a feeding

2:10 she has been fed and burped and is back in her bassinet

~ 2:30 she stops fussing and goes back to sleep and so can I

5 am time for another feeding

5:15 Jesse's alarm goes off

5:20 Ali back in bassinet

5:30 Jesse gets up for work

5:45 I get up and have breakfast with Jesse

6 am Jesse leaves for work - I nap since it is a good morning and Ali has gone back to sleep

6:30 Ali is up again

6:35 change Ali's diaper and put her on quilt in her room for baby exercise time. I go transfer whites to dryer and put diapers in the wash

7 am Ali gets dressed then we try for tummy time but Ali is not in the mood and starts crying

7:10 I put Ali in the bouncy seat and I start this blog

7:20 Ali starts crying inconsolably - must be time to eat again

7:45 Ali has eaten and been burped so I put her in bouncy seat so I can update blog and look through coupons to plan menu for the week and make grocery list

8:50 Ali is awake but happy so more baby exercise time while I work on sorting through insurance bills

9 am Ali starts getting mad - probably a wet diaper. I open the diaper drawer and am reminded I need to switch the laundry. I quickly fold whites and try to match socks before Ali gets too mad - I am unsuccessful. I put diapers in dryer and go change Ali.

9:10 Ali instantly stops crying when I pick her up. Change a very dirty diaper.

I am again impressed with gdiapers ability to contain the mess. I pat myself on the back for a good choice of diapers and silently thank Kyla for the recommendation :)

9:15 Lay Ali down to wash hands - she resumes screaming. Must be time for another feeding.

9:20 Ali stops screaming long enough for me to hang diaper liners to dry on the cloths line that Jesse put up for me this weekend (thanks awesome hubby!). I am wishing it were sunny to bleach the stains but I guess another day . . .

9:45 Ali is fed and burped and is now being fussy. I think it is nap time. I need to get to the store so she will need to nap on the go this morning. I let her fuss in her bassinet while I get dressed. I would like to shower but I think I lost my showering window to grocery list making . . . oh well.

10:00 Finally - I am dressed, Ali is loaded up, and Berkley is kenneled. Sams club and the post office here we come!

11:30 Back from Sams and the post office. Used the Moby at Sams - Ali was super happy and comfy the whole time. She was also very popular with all the other little girls that happened to be at Sams this morning. Had several people comment on her in the Moby - so glad to have it!

11:35 Ali is still sleeping in her car seat. Gave me time to unload the food and update the rundown - yay!

11:50 Birth announcements are finally in the mail! (They have been addressed just waiting for stamps for a couple weeks).

Noon Ali is still sleeping - I consider waking her up to feed her so I can get to the grocery but decided to mix up some brownies instead.

12:30 Found Brownie recipe and started mixing things up but just realized brownies are not pressing but getting the diapers out of the dryer and put away is . . . so the brownies are stopped and diapers are put away. I leave the liners outside still hoping the sun might peek through the clouds.

12:35 Diapers are put away - Ali is starting to stir - I decide to wake her up so I can feed her and go to the grocery. I can make brownies after going to the store . . . the bowls go into the oven so Hallie doesn't get into them when I am gone.

1:15 Ali changed, fed, and packed up and ready to go to the grocery.

2:30 Back from the store. Ali is awake and angry this time.

2:37 Ali has been changed and is now happily staring at her ceiling fan. Man that child hates being in a dirty diaper! I take the time of her being happy to put away groceries, and bring in and sort the mail.

3:10 Ali has eaten and I swaddled her and laid her down - hoping she will nap - I would like to get a workout in today.

3:20 Ali is not sleeping and has started crying . . .

3:36 Bounced on the ball with her to calm her and put her to sleep - now back to the brownies.

4:10 Ali does not want to nap this afternoon even though she is clearly exhausted. She is now again, changed, fed, and bounced and laid down again. Hopefully she naps this time.

4:50 Ali is finally napping and brownies are in the oven but I need to start dinner now - no workout today :(

5 pm Jesse is home! We are making chili together.

7 pm Ali woke up just before we got our dinner finished so I fed her and she sat in her bouncy seat while we ate. She is spending some quality time with daddy while I clean up from dinner.

7:10 Brownies finally finished! Cooling in the fridge.

7:30 Put Ali in pajamas, now it is stare at the ceiling fan time, again (that girl sure likes that ceiling fan).

8:50 We just got finished watching NCIS together. Then we put Ali on her quilt and watched her kick around while we ate dessert. Jesse pointed out that she moves exactly like Shrenk dances (yes Brandon did get a shoutout in the blog).

9:00 We have brushed our teeth and Ali is being fed and we are all heading to bed.

So there it is . . . a day in the life of Ali.

She's a Little Teapot

Ali had her 2 month doctor's visit yesterday. She weighed in at 11 lb 7 oz (75th percentile) and 21 in long (10th percentile) - so she's short and stout right now but cute as can be. They said she looks good and healthy! They checked her on her tummy and her neck strength looks great.

She also had her first vaccinations. We are following an alternative vaccination schedule so she only had an oral vaccine for roto virus and Tdap (she would have had two others on the normal schedule but we will do those in a month). She did really well - one big cry when they gave her the shot then she was fine. She cried more when we first got there and striped her down so they could listen to her heart and take her blood pressure. She hasn't seemed to have any problems with the vaccines either. I think she slept more than usual yesterday afternoon but no fever and her leg doesn't seem sore.

8 Weeks Old!

Just looking at pictures and realized my tiny baby is not so tiny anymore! She has gotten big and long and has the cutest chunky little thighs and arms :) She still likes to be all curled up (but not in the picture below) but I don't think that will last much longer.

1 week old 8 weeks old

Ali was weighted Wednesday and was 11 lb 1 oz! She is growing so fast! Seems like just yesterday she outgrew her newborn cloths and now she will soon have outgrown her 3 month stuff! She will be going to the doctor Monday for her 2 month visit. I am excited to see where she is on the growth charts. She will also get her first shots - poor baby :(

Ali is sleeping better these days - some nights she will only get up once to eat! (Other nights are not so good and she will get up every 2 hours still but I will take a good night when I can get it!) She is also getting stronger every day. She has pretty good head control now and you can hold her in a sitting type position and she can keep her head fairly steady. She pushes pretty hard with her legs sometimes when she is being held too. She does great at tummy time and doesn't completely hate it fortunately. She gets herself rocking sometimes and looks like she will accidentally roll herself over but she hasn't yet.

Her Gigi (Jesse's grandmother - her great grandmother) is visiting this week and Ali got to meet cousin Rowen for the first time. Rowen is about 1 month younger - it is so fun to see the two of them together.

We bought a Bob All terrain/jogging stroller a few weeks ago which is so nice! So easy to push and steer and works well where there are no sidewalks (which is great since there aren't a lot of sidewalks around us). I have also been using Ali's carriers (Moby, ring sling, and Ergo) and love them all! I am planning to start using the Ergo a lot of more when I start hiking. I am planning to join a hiking group for mom's called Mountain Mama's. They go on hikes especially chosen for women carrying their babies (and when Ali is older we can go on hikes chosen especially for toddlers to walk with the adults). Assuming the weather cooperates I am planning to go on my first hike with them Thursday.

I have continued going the the New Mom Survival group and am really enjoying meeting and talking with the other moms. It is fun to see the older babies too and will be neat to see the transition as Ali becomes one of the older babies (it is for mom's with babies birth to 6 months old).

6 Weeks Old!

Aletheia will be 6 weeks old tomorrow - the time has really been flying by. I am loving my life as a mommy and can't imagine a better way to spend my days. She is getting so big - check out the newest pictures on the shutterfly site.

Last week we went for the New Mom Survival class held at the hospital. It was a great time and we went again this week. I am excited to meet other moms and their babies and the classes are full of good information as well. I have also gotten to get Ali weighed at the class. Last week she was 9 lb 2 oz (after some eating during class). This week we went early to meet with the lactation consultant first and she was 9 lb 13 oz before eating. She then ate 5 oz (the consultant expected her to eat more like 2 - 3 oz)! Needless to say she is eating really well and growing well to show for it :)

I have also been enjoying taking care of Jesse - I make him dinner every evening and have also made brownies and pancakes from scratch (both were very tasty).

I am feeling like I have things more under control these days and have somewhat of a routine (as much as possible around Ali's feedings). In a day I can successfully find time to shower, eat something myself, and do laundry. On a good day I also can find time to run an errand to two :) I have yet to figure out how to get any cleaning (besides laundry) done - I get the kitchen cleaned after dinner when Jesse is home but I have yet to get around to vacuuming, sweeping, mopping or cleaning up the backyard. Luckily my mom comes down every weekend to see Ali and has been great about helping with the sweeping/mopping.

We had a great Easter last weekend. The weather was beautiful and we got to spend a lovely day with family. Both sets of Ali's grandparents joined us for church which made for a perfect start to the day. We all hung out at our house and had a late afternoon dinner. We completed the day with a nice walk with Ali and the dogs to Walmart.

Jesse is also making great progress (considering how little time he has to spend on it) on the basement. He has his man cave room all framed in and has started framing in the storage area that will be in the middle of the basement. I don't have any pictures of the basement but I will get some taken and posted soon.

1 Month Old!

It is hard to believe but Aletheia is already 1 month old! I think we have adjusted well. She still gets up a lot at night to eat but I feel alright during the day and not overly tired. Jesse has been back at work full time since our second week home and he is doing well. He doesn't even wake up most times at night (although I am sure he is not getting the best sleep).

Ali is a pretty easy going baby thus far. She loves to be cuddled and held and will cry if we lay down when she is awake sometimes but will also occasionally lay awake quietly. She still mostly just sleeps and eats but is beginning to have more awake time as well.

She is working on her tummy time and is very strong already - she can lift her head very well and even do the "mini-pushup" that is an advanced 1 month milestone.

It is hard to believe how different she is already. When she is awake she is much more aware and will look around. And when she is mad she really shows off her strength arching her back and pushing with her arms and legs.

She has definitely complicated life but we are adjusting and love having her with us.

3 Weeks Old!

Little Aletheia is over three weeks old already! Hard to believe it has been that long. It seems like the time has flown by but life before Ali seems millions of miles away. She has changed our lives so completely I feel like I can't even remember what it was like before her.

She is eating well and growing like a weed. She was 7 lb 3 oz at her doctor appointment Tuesday and is probably well past 7.5 lb by now :) It is no wonder she is growing like she is - she wants to eat every 2 hours (or sometimes less) even through the night. Occasionally I will get a 3 hour stretch (which feels so luxurious) but I feel like I have adjusted pretty well. I don't feel particularly tired during the day anymore which is wonderful even though sometimes the night seems to fly by without much sleeping.

My due date was yesterday - it is strange to think that I figured I would still be pregnant today (you know first time moms always go late . . . lol). I can't imagine still being pregnant and I am glad that I did not have to deal with going past my due date (although a couple more days sure wouldn't have hurt). I can't believe how much Ali has grown and am pretty glad all the baby she is now isn't trying to fit in me still!

Aunt Molly was in town last Tuesday through Friday. It was so great to see her and Ali got some great Auntie time. My mom came down (both her and my sister were on spring break) as well during the week. Ali loves being held and cuddled so she enjoyed the extra hands around so she could be held (and I loved that laundry and cleaning could still get done).

We managed our first Sunday at church since Ali's arrival. It felt good to get back into some of our "normal" routines - even though it was far from normal. Ali did very well - she was quiet in her carrier for the first half of the service or so then started waking up so Jesse pulled her out and held her for the second half.

We have been thoroughly enjoying the meals provided by our friends and we are not looking forward to April when we have to cook for ourselves again :). We have really enjoyed getting to see everyone and visit a little bit when they drop food off as well.

Pictures

I will upload pictures of Aletheia to Shutterfly - they can be seen at the following address:

http://rockymountainwhitehouse.shutterfly.com/

I will post a few pics on the blog when I update it but I will probably manage to get pics on shutterfly more often (and there will be many more).

2 Weeks Old!

Thought I should post a quick update - I will try to get a few pictures added later this week.

Ali celebrated her two week birthday Friday. Hard to believe it has already been that long and harder even for me to believe she should even be here yet. I would definitely be counting days down if I were still pregnant. She had a breastfeeding checkup Friday and is up to 6 lb 12 oz - back above birth weight - yay! She has her two week appointment Tuesday so hopefully everything looks good.

We bought a fan for her room yesterday at Lowes. It is really cute - it has colored blades and little flowers on the arms that attach the blades to the fan. Very girly :)

We are doing well and starting to adjust. Jesse had his first full week back at work and Ali and I survived by ourselves at home. We even made our first outing just the two of us on Thursday - a little tough but manageable!

Ali still gets up quite a bit at night (every 2 to 3 hours pretty much) and the past few nights has been really fussy right as we are trying to go to bed. She has slept great between feedings during the day though. Hopefully we can get that night fussiness flipped to during the day soon :)

Our friends and people from church have been providing dinners which has been an enormous lifesaver. It has been so nice not to have to think about what to have or make anything. We are going to get quite spoiled :)

Ali is getting bigger and stronger by the day. It is amazing how much strength there is in that little body when she gets mad. I am loving spending every day with her (even though I am completely exhausted) and enjoy learning more about her with every moment.

Welcome Aletheia!

Aletheia Elizabeth Bostwick White (Ali for short) arrived February 26, 2010 at 7:03 am by emergency c-section. We are certainly in trouble if her dramatic entrance into this world is any indication of what we are up for in the future!

She made a valiant effort to steal my (and her paternal grandmother's) birthday but missed it by a day :) The end of February will be quite a party around here from now on though!

Her delivery was nothing like I wanted or we had planned for but the only thing that matters is that she is here with us today - alive and healthy!

Aletheia's Entrance

The last belly shot.

I did not know I was in labor until my water broke around 3:30 am (I was sleeping soundly). In retrospect I think I may have starting having contractions (very minor - I think I have had worse menstrual cramps) around 7:30 pm the night before. We were fairly unprepared (I had taken Thursday and Friday off of work so I could get the last few things done before she reached "full term" on the 27th) so things were a bit frantic as I started trying to pack a bag. I called my midwife and she said we could continue to labor at home for a while to strengthen up the contractions since the baby was still moving well and the amniotic fluid was clear.

We labored at home and got ready as best we could until 6:30 am. At this point my contractions has gotten much stronger and I wanted to be able to use the tub at the hospital for pain relief and relaxation. We walked up the labor and delivery and were shown to our room. Jesse helped me through a contraction immediately after we entered the room then I want to the bathroom to leave the requested urine sample . . . The rest of the day was pretty much a blur. As it turned out little Ali had us all fooled - she was breech and we ended up with a rare complication called umbilical cord prolapse. Fortunately God was watching out for her and the complication was noticed in time.

I was quickly wheeled away and given a general anesthetic and little Ali was born less than 10 minutes later. Jesse got to see her and accompany her to the NICU before he joined me. I woke up confused and probably had to be told 5 times that I had a baby girl before I was able to process the information. The doctors and nurses got me stabilized and we were sent to a recovery room where we would be the rest of our stay.

I got to see Ali for the first time late that morning and hold her that afternoon. After the longest 50 or so hours of my life - she was finally discharged from the NICU around 10:30 am Sunday morning. It was the greatest feeling in the world when we called to make sure it was a good time to visit and were told Ali was discharged and they were bringing her to us!

Ali and I were discharged Monday. It was so scary and overwhelming leaving the hospital but so great to know that she was really ours. She was jaundiced and had been in a phototherapy bed in the hospital and we had to get one delivered to the house to use as well.

Her first week was filled with doctors appointments (hers and mine) but she got to come out of the bed Thursday and has been doing great.

Ali had a little trouble nursing in the hospital - she tended to fall asleep too quickly. We were told this partially due to her arriving a bit early. She is still a great sleeper (better during the day than at night) and is eating better by the day.

She is such an amazing blessing and I overflow with love and pride just thinking of her. We are so thankful to have her in our lives and are adjusting to being mommy and daddy. The dogs are doing well with her although they are quite needy for attention.