Family Visit

Greetings everyone! Karalee got to see a lot of her extended family Aug. 15-Aug. 19, she met her Uncle Adam, her Grandma Lee, Great Grandma Mason, Great Aunt Christie and Great Uncle Mark!! Wow! I don't think we've had that big a family gathering since my brother Adam graduated from boot camp! Was really nice to see everyone but it was also very tiring! Just an intense few days of getting together to do what we could sight seeing wise. GG (Great Grandma)and Grammy Lee got Karalee a ton of new clothes for fall/winter! Girl is set! Thank you GG and Grammy!!!!! She has worn a couple of the outfits that are 3-6 months (most of what was gotten is 6-9 months which is awesome!) and she looks so stylin'!

Karalee also got to see Grandma Karen for a few hours on Aug. 18th when Karen had a 4 hour layover so Dana took Karalee up there to see her. Apparently Dana got ignored pretty much until Grandma Karen had gotten to hug Karalee and then he got a hello! Lol Karalee did pretty well for a majority of the visit but did have a melt down when she got hungry and refused the bottle Dana had with him so they ended up coming home a little earlier then planned so I could feed her. I know that disappointed Karen but what can you do when little one decides the bottle isn't the right temp so she won't take the milk? Faucets at DIA just couldn't get it warm enough and she's really finicky about temperature.

My friend Candice won concert tickets yesterday! Our local radio station has all these tickets for their "VIP members" - just means you signed up on their website so they have your name and they draw names a few times a day and announce it on the radio. Well generally it's just background noise for me and I don't pay a ton of attention, except yesterday it caught my ear because I heard "....from Commerce City!" and I got very excited wondering who in Commerce City? Me? Someone I know? WHO?!?!? Then they said her name and I think I scared people in the office because I squeeled pretty loud I was so excited! So I leap to my phone to call Candice.ring...ring..ring...voicemail! OH NO! So I give it a minute and call again..ring...ring..she answered! So I tell her and she hangs up to call and now she's going to Maroon 5 in Oct! It's funny because I tease Dana all the time that it's a scam because I never know anyone that gets picked (I was totally hoping to get airline tickets when they had those a few weeks ago) and then BAM a friend of mine wins! So exciting!

The other exciting news is Dana & I are going to have our first date since having Karalee! Candice is going to watch her for a few hours while we go to dinner & a movie. I'm nervous, haven't been away from her except for work of course. I know Candice will do great with her, I'm just going to miss peanut! We need the date though, I've fallen into the habit of being in "mommy mode" so much I forgot to include "wife" mode. :-)

Another friend of mine is going through a really rough seperation from her husband right now. I feel for her because I know it was an incredibly difficult decision to make and her husband is trying to "fight" to keep her but he's going about it badly so it's actually pushing her away. He's on the very thin line of fighting for the marriage and being a stalker. I know logically it's incredibly difficult to walk away but on the other hand if you don't give space when it's needed you just drive the person farther away. I hope they can work it out but I also know she hasn't been happy in a long time. They're just so different and of course people change as we grow up, sadly you can't always stay with the one you married when that happens.

Other friends of mine are officially divorced and she's found love again which I'm so happy about. That was a really tough one for me as selfish as it sounds because I'm friends with them both and love them both so it was heartbreaking to see their marriage disolve. They're both happier now I think and I know they still care for each other. The hardest part is while I tried to be there for them both I think I failed and lost one of my best friends in the process which is upsetting for me. I hope we'll regain our friendship someday but right now she's asked for space and as hard as that is I have to give it. See parallels to the above friends? :-)

I'm excited that some good friends of mine all have little ones about Karalee's age so we have so much to share! They live in other states unfortunatly but it's nice to have other moms to bounce ideas/concerns/stories off of and have them share what they've learned. We're all first time mom's so we don't have knowledge from "been there done that" but we do have some from our little ones.

Karalee is getting bigger and stronger every day! I noticed this morning that nursing her and doing other things, like feeding the dog, are out. She's gotten too long to do one handed nursing anymore! I look at her at just can't believe how long she is now! She's getting such a personality and has figured out laughing for the most part. It took me awhile to realize it's just her version of the laugh! Lol I kept waiting for a "laugh" and talking to Dana I realized she is "laughing" just not how I expected! She loves to stand on our legs and have a conversation! It's hysterical because her eyes don't leave your face and she has this big grin while she happily shouts "Aaaah! Aaaah!" Dana and I laughed so hard a few nights ago while she carried on like a 5 minute conversation with him! I got some on video we'll try to download later.

After her bath looking so cute!


Sitting tall on Dana's shoulders


Sitting tall on my shoulders-"Hm... can I eat that scrunchy?"


Her 4 month shots are coming up in a couple weeks. Can you believe on the 30th my baby will be 4 months?? I surely can't! She's changed so much and has learned so much already! Everyday is a joy to watch her! She figured out her bouncy chair has rattles she can kick which even a month ago she didn't know what those were! She loves her jumperoo, matter of fact when we were in Babies R Us Dana went down the aisle with jumperoo's and when she saw her's she started kicking her legs to say "I know what that is! I know how to work it! Put me in it Dad!" Lol

Pictures are below of the visit, listed left to right (top left to bottom right in some cases). In a group as big as we had it's tough to get everyone to face the same way, keep eyes open and smile all at the same time so for all the family that reads this, sorry if the pictures aren't your best shot! I tried to choose ones that had majority looking perfect. :-) Most of the following pictures were taken across the street from where Dana & I got married. Most of the indoor were at our house.

Great Aunt Christie & Great Uncle Mark with Karalee


For those of you who are unaware, Karalee is an avid hunter! Thumb hunter that is, once she's found the one she wants...well... good luck getting away!

Karalee has her prey! Great Aunt Christie thought it was the highlight of her trip!




Dana, Karalee, Great Uncle Mark, Great Aunt Christie, Great Grandma Mason at Denver Nature & Science Musuem


Me, Dana, Karalee in front of Titanic model


Me, Karalee, Grammy Lee, Great Grandma Mason, Great Aunt Christie


Karalee sleeping in carseat


Uncle Adam, Grammy Lee, Karalee, Great Grandma Mason, Great Aunt Christie


Grammy Lee, Me, Karalee, Great Grandma Mason


Great Uncle Mark, Grammy Lee, Me, Karalee, Great Grandma Mason, Uncle Adam


Dana, Uncle Adam, Great Uncle Mark, Grammy Lee, Me, Karalee, Great Grandma Mason


Dana, Uncle Adam, Great Uncle Mark, Grammy Lee, Me, Karalee, Great Grandma Mason, Great Aunt Christie


Great Aunt Christie & Great Uncle Mark-we teased them mercilessly about matching


Dana, me & Karalee


Grammy Lee & Karalee


Grammy Lee & Karalee at airport, that tree fascinated Karalee!


Me, Karalee, & Grammy Lee at airport


All the clothes Great Grandma & Grammy bought Karalee (there are jeans & matching pants under several-I took Grammy Lee's advice & matched the sets up)


Karalee's Ladybug costume for Halloween

My protectors??

Here's a laugh for all you keeping an eye on our lives! My dog & Dana scared the crud out of me last night! Max is normally crashed & wakes for very little, so re-assuring I tell ya! Well I'm nursing Karalee & he lets loose this loud WOOF!! I jumped, Karalee stayed sleeping in my arms. I peer cautiously out the nursery door...hear nothing...so I venture down the hallway and there at the bottom of the stairs is this figure!! Holy cow! I jumped again and dang near screamed until I realized it was Dana! Geez! Max decided to chime in with one of the neighborhood dogs apparently & Dana got up to check, course he didn't turn on lights so all I saw was some dark figure! Was a good thing I'd already gone to the restroom or I'd probably have peed myself!

3 Months Already??

I realized it's been awhile since I updated everyone! Sorry about that! Karalee is officially 3 months old now! Wow! I just can't believe how fast time has gone! She's so alert and LOVES to watch older kids playing! She's still not a fan of tummy time, takes it for about 5 minutes and that's about it. Her legs continue to get stronger and stronger, I swear this girl is just going to skip crawling and go right to walking! Lol She hasn't quite gotten giggling yet but she makes so many noises! She loves to squeel, squeak, go "ah!!" all excited-that's usually made when she's smiling and really excited-she's also just learned how to blow her version of the raspberry! Lol It's so cute, we always make bbbbbbb or pthbbbbbb sounds when she's in her bumbo or just to play with her so she started doing that too a couple days ago! It's so funny to watch her to do it! I tried to get it on video but little stinker is still quick to stop soon as she see's that camera! Hee hee

We took her to the Children's Musuem today, they don't have a ton for infants but they do have an area so that was fun. Dana and I agree that she'll probably have a better time when she can run around but it was nice to get out and do something different. We found this butterfly costume deal and put that on her....let's just say we thought it more fun then she did! Lol They did do a cool little pond area, it's soft foam that's blue and they have lily pads on it the babies lie on and check out the mobiles. You hear recordings of frogs and they have puppets to play with. She wasn't too sure what to make of the puppets I played with around her! Lol

I picked her up a little Winnie the Pooh sweater and jeans as well as a Ladybug costume while I was at Babies R Us. They were on sale and who can resist picking up a costume for their little one! I don't know if we'll go walk around with her or not in it. We'll probably just dress her up and hand out candy at the door, or just go for a quick stroll if we do go out since it's usually snowing on Halloween!

She's working on sitting up on her own but doesn't quite have the hang of it, she either gets her self tilted to one side and then tips onto her tummy or leans so far forward her head about touches her toes and then can't get back up. She's awful proud of herself though! And naturally so are we!

Her old mattress bit the dust finally. We knew it was coming because one portion of it you could feel the metal bar starting to poke up, it worked it's way up until there wasn't any avoiding it so she's got a brand new mattress on her bed now! It's so much nicer! Very thick, very supportive!

Karalee got to "play" with our friends little girl Kara yesterday! I had a jewelry party so they took turns playing on Karalee's bouncy chair and jumperoo. Kara was so funny, she loved that bouncy chair! Was kicking those rattles and having a blast! Karalee hasn't quite figured out how to make her toys rattle unless it's by accident! Lol Kara is 5 months old so it's fun to see about where Karalee will be in a couple months! They both did so well, hardly squeaked at all during the presentation!

Avon has been off to a slow start but it's a start! I've had a few friends order things and I'm thankful to them! Hopefully they enjoy the products they've gotten! I'm about to go put out some flyers in the neighborhood so I know that'll bring in more business.

We have family coming out in a couple weeks to see Karalee which will be fun! She'll finally meet her Uncle, her Great Grandma Mason, Great Aunt Christie, and Great Uncle Mark! Hopefully her Grandpa Brian and Grandma Lee will also make it out but they weren't sure of the timing just then.

Dana went with our friends up to Black Hawk yesterday, hid out from all the estrogen at the party! Hee hee Our friends were camping up near there so he went up with the friend who wasn't staying overnight but just having dinner up there. He said it's really pretty up there so I think that's a trip that'll be in our future in the next few weeks. :-) Not to camp mind you, I really do not get the appeal but kudo's to all you brave souls who journey out there for it!

Got the exciting news my friend had her little girl a couple nights ago! I can't wait to see her pictures! It's so exciting to have friends with little ones, even though they're all in other states! Lol Least we can share via e-mail! I'm so excited for Nov to arrive when I get to meet most of the girls I've shared so much of this journey with!

Well I think that about catches everyone up! Here of course are the pictures everyone really checks the blog to see!

When the crib just won't do she and I crash in the spare room so we don't disturb Dana


She's so tiny! I forget that sometimes until I see her in a bed WAY too big for her! Lol


Some of the pictures Dana took on the way to the camp ground






Before we left for the museum-practicing her raspberry's!


Notice the saying? "We all know I'm Grandma's Favorite"


Checking out the dragon fly at Children's Musuem


Checking out an "Eye Spy" type bag


Getting into the butterfly costume


Flying to Daddy


"Why are you doing this to me??"


And for grins here's what I look like 3 months later!