more Christmas pictures

I have more pictures to share with you all :)

Also, an update..Delaney seems to be feeling a little better. Her fever was down today after a morning dose of Tylenol. And just before dinner (after being a pill all day) she told us "owie" and "teeth", so she got a second dose of Tylenol.

Zap seems to be feeling better as well, so good news all around.

Dash and I went to church this morning without Delaney and Zap. We were a little concerned about her fever and her possibly being contagious. Dash and I had a great time as we always do.

Upcoming this week, a playdate or two and then we're hosting a Noon Year's Eve party for all of our friends. This way, the kids can ring in New Year's (at noon) without having to stay up all night!

As promised, more pictures!

Christmas kisses with Papa:


Family Christmas picture 2009

Just a note that Zap hasn't put on a ton of weight; he's using his belly to help support Dashy.

Messy haired mommy Christmas kisses


Papa and Dashy enjoying Christmas morning.


Dash has started on rice cereal. He thinks it's okay.


I had gone upstairs for three minutes (I actually watched the clock) one day to put Dash to bed. I had left Delaney watching Sesame Street. When I came down, here's what I saw:




and lastly, Delaney really enjoys licking the spoon after we make brownies together.

simply having a wonderful Christmas-time!

Christmas was a new thrill for Zap and me this year. We were talking that we didn't anticipate how much fun it would be to see Christmas through the eyes of a toddler. More fun than I ever even imagined.
Santa brought Delaney a HUGE kitchen set. I have video of Christmas morning to share. Just a note, it is a very long video (around 9.5 minutes), but you'll get to see Delaney first see her kitchen and play with it.



In other Christmas festivities, we went to church services at the Episcopal Church I've been attending for about a month. Dash got to play Baby Jesus in the manger.


Zap's family has a tradition that you get to open one gift on Christmas Eve. Delaney opened a book set that we got for her.


Christmas Day was really fun as well. We spent the morning together and ate chocolate chip pancakes and enjoyed our gifts.
Later on in the afternoon, we went to some family friends' house to celebrate Christmas with the Rieckens.

Earlier in the year, I gave Joyce a lot of Delaney's clothes from her first year after we had the idea to make a quilt from the clothes. Joyce (Zap's mom) but a ton of time and effort into it and finished it just in time for Christmas. It it beautiful and crazy special to us. I cried a little looking at it and remembering all the little outfits.
I asked Grandma if she'd mind making one next year for Dashy :)

That's just a few pictures (that don't really do the quilt justice) of my favorite blocks. I'll work on getting some better pictures. Double click the picture to get a closer look.

In other news, we've been potty training with Delaney for about five or six days now and she's doing well. Even the second day, she was telling me "pee pee" before she had to go and we were able to make it to the bathroom. I think she was just ready and I'm really excited to keep it going.

I need to run; somehow everyone in the house seems to be getting sick. Zap has had an upset stomach all day, Delaney is running a fever, and Dash seems like he's hurting. Here's hoping tomorrow is better! No sick babies!! (or hubby)

girls' night out

I think Delaney and I started a new tradition for us. On Friday night this past week, she and I went to the Tacoma Zoo for the Zoo Lights event and LEFT THE BOYS AT HOME!
We had about an hour drive out there because the traffic was so heavy, but it was worth it.
The first thing we did was walk around about half of the zoo and look at the lights. They were amazing. There were so many colors and they were artists with the lights. There was a Mt. Rainer in lights, a rainbow in lights, and so many animals in lights I couldn't believe it. Delaney had a really good time walking around, looking at the lights, and naming the animals (and of course making the sound with each one).
She would say "lights?" and "touch" and she would listen to me when I told her they weren't for touching. She stayed right by my side and was just wonderful company.
After seeing about half the lights, Delaney and I went into the little cafe to eat dinner. We ordered some chicken fingers and fries and Delaney even got to try one of the zoo's orange drinks out. She seemed to like it.After dinner, I thought we'd ride the carousel. She did a carousel when we were in Memphis and she was seven months old, but I was a little unsure how she'd take it. So we started with the bench seat.
Yeah..she was enjoying it.
The minute we got off the ride, she said "more, more".. So we rode it again. But this time, we rode on a horse that went up and down.

She had so much fun and laughed so hard that each time we made the circle we had people laughing at her laughing. We got off the ride and she said "more, more". So we did more.

Nope.. She wasn't scared at all.
But by this point Mama was getting a little dizzy so I was glad that this time she didn't ask for "more, more" when the ride was over.

After the carousel, we did a quick tour of the rest of the Zoo Lights but she was fading on me. So we packed up and came home.

I had so much fun with her. It's rare now that I get alone time with her, especially when the setting is new and exciting for her. We may have to start having more and more girls' nights out.

such a busy holiday season

We're full swing into our first Christmas with a toddler, as well as our first Christmas as a family of four, and let me tell you... We are BUSY!! From the pictures with Santa to the various Christmas parties we've been to and had we are having a blast.

Dash is getting really big. He rolled over on his own for the first time today. Which means that we have to start weaning him from his swaddle. I tried a little tonight but after an hour I gave into it and did the one arm swaddle. He was really pitiful..Just a little boy looking at me as if to say "Mama, why can't I sleep?".

Dash has started to use the bouncer we have and he seems to really enjoy it so far. I'm sure he likes being able to watch what's going on in the house. Delaney seems to think we brought it out for her, but she does enjoy bouncing Dash in it (gently).
We had our first snow this year and Delaney really loved it. She calls it "no" and we bundled her up and sent her out in it, with Papa of course. Mama was a little too chilly and decided to stay in and document it. Someone had to, you know.


We had our yearly Santa pictures taken with our wonderful photographer. Every year she schedules a time with Santa and we get to go meet him and talk to him. I'm not sure how she gets Santa to come here with his busy schedule but she does. And we're so glad for it. This year, Delaney was not so sure about Santa. It took a lot of work and encouragement, but we got some great pictures.


This past Monday we went to a Christmas party at our friends Christa, De, and Murphy's house. Our other friends Maisy and her mom Kristi were there and so were Stacy and Brynn. We know them from toddler gym. We had snacks, did some crafts, and opened some homemade gifts that everybody brought. Stacy made Delaney and Dash crocheted hats and Kristi made Delaney and Dash silly yarn hats. Christa and Murphy made little bean bags that Delaney is really loving playing with and tossing into the air.

We also hosted a Christmas Party with our meetup.com mom friends and it was such a blast. The house was PACKED with toddlers and mommies (many of whom have expanding bellies as they are expecting baby number 2). We ate a ton of great food and did a fun gift exchange.
Delaney was helping me with the gift wrap for the goodies we gave our friends.

Dash was looking great in his tie and dress jeans; I made the tie shirt for him.
Delaney and her new BFF, Kaylin, snacking at the little table. We just had Delaney's hair cut into a little bob and it is absolutely adorable on her.

More to come in another post: Zoo Lights!!!

Christmas fun

We picked out our tree on Monday afternoon. Mind you, it was the stinking coldest day to go to Hunter's Farm and pick out a tree. Usually we go and cut our own, but it was too cold (for the babies..and for momma). It was an incredibly clear day and the view of Mt. Rainer on our way to the farm was unreal. It honestly looked like you could reach out and touch it.
Delaney wasn't sure about the trees at all. I'd been asking her "Do you want to put a tree in the house?" and she would say "esss" with a big smile. But once we got to the farm it was another story.

Dashy was pretty cold out at the farm as well.

We went with a Noble Fir this year and I think it is seven feet tall. It had to sit for a day outside of our house to get all the creepy crawlies out. Then we brought it into the house. Delaney still wasn't sure about it. But when it came to getting the ladder out, stringing the lights, and "decorating" it Delaney-style, she was all about it.


Delaney thought that her stuffed animals looked really good in the tree. I thought so too.
I was surprised by how willing Delaney was to climb the ladder. She had no fear. However, we only let her climb up the first step by herself.

Lastly, Delaney got to put the topper on the tree with Papa.

So much fun.. Next post preview: Christmas cookie parties with our friends Natalie and Emma.

Wow..November's over.

And where did it go?? Oh, that's right, I had family visiting for three weeks! My mom and grandmother arrived on November 19th and they just left today (Dec. 3rd). We had a wonderful time together and Mammaw seemed to especially enjoy Dash.
She seems like she's doing okay since Pappaw passed, and I think the visit here did her good.

While they were here we took a trip to the Carter's outlet, went to a gingerbread house competition, cooked dinners together, and had a lot of fun. Delaney loves her Nana and she thinks she's silly.
Mom and Mammaw also helped me get the house in order, which was really helpful.

In other news, Dash is four months old.
He is in size 3 diapers now and has been for a few days. I know he's just about, right next to 16 pounds (I know this from our frequent trips to the doctors office for colds and other fun stuff. At his four month checkup he's in the 70th percentile for his weight and 25th for his length and head circumference.

During the day, he continues to nurse every two hours or less. He's a wonderful nurser still and he's sweet and soft to his mama.

He still sleeps through the night most nights. A few nights ago, he slept from 7pm to 3am and from 3am to 7am. It was wonderful!!
He's been sleeping through the night most nights. Last night in fact, he nursed at 6:30pm and then woke up at 3:00 AM!! And again at 6AM. We are really loving the sleep. He sleeps in his crib entirely now, which is really nice. Zap is his sleep guru and he puts him to bed.
He's also now in just a body swaddle; his legs are not in the swaddle.
He prefers to be held most of the day but is starting to do more floor, tummy, and swing time.
Just in the last few days we have noticed he is more alert and chatty. He loves when we say "Are YOU the baby???" and pretty much any singing.

He smells like a baby now, not a newborn. The deep blue in his eyes is going away and somedays there is more green and some days more brown. His hair is still very dark and curly after it is washed.

He is never "squeaky" anymore when he's breathing, so he completely outgrew that.

Delaney is doing well with him. Just tonight, she hit him a little and got sent straight to time out; after she apologized to him and gave him a kiss (on his toes).

Dash is teething and teething pretty hard. Thanks to our pal, Christa, who had some infant Tylenol with her today at toddler gym; he really needed it to settle down.

speaking of the little man, he's awake, so I'll post this (seeing as it took me like five days to post it in the first place) for you all to read.

Enjoy!!