Another Scratch in the Wall.

Hallelujah! Nick has completed his Internal Medicine Rotation. He has been taking test every other day for about a week and a half, which means, he's been studying more than usual the last few weeks. This rotation was very LONG and towards the end it was getting wearisome. You know your husband is tired if within a week he can finish off a 24 pack of Dr. Pepper (and he's only home and awake to do so 4-5 hours an evening). So,I'm happy to say Nick has crossed another rotation off his list making us closer to his graduation (I know it's not for a while but we're one closer). Which, I don't know will be a good thing, it may be even more stressful but exciting none-the-less.

Nick's next rotation is Surgery, I have mixed feeling about it. I'm very excited for him because I know this rotation will be super fun and he'll get a lot of hands-on experience. I'm bummed about it because he has to go down to Trenton, NJ which is about 1- 1 1/2 hours away and he has to commute back and forth (unless, we decide it would be better for him to sublet a room down there). Alette and I are going to go to Utah and Hawaii to spend time with family. We hate being away from Nick but it's will be better his mind isn't worrying about us because he'll know we have some family with us. It's a long rotation but I think Nick is going to enjoy it (maybe not the waking in the wee hours of the morning or commuting back and forth in the middle of winter). I am so proud of all the hard work he puts in. Nick is such a great man! I'm a lucky woman and Alette is a lucky little girl! Great job baby!!!

Thanksgiving

(Our family of Turkey's (my hand, Alette's and Nick's).)

I love that there is a holiday set aside for us to remember the stuff we normally overlook. I have so much to be thankful for and sometimes it seems we forget about them or get caught up with life. So, right now I'll take the time to recognize the most important things that I am so blessed to have.

- The Church, without the church the struggles we go through in life would be much more difficult. I love how it brings our family even closer.

- My wonderful Husband. Nick, is fantastic husband, he's funny, smart, good-looking, patient, loving, and an awesome daddy. I love the way fatherhood came so naturally to him, I love watching him with Alette. Nick has been able to juggle both school and home and he's done so very successfully. I couldn't imagine being married to a better man.

- My Beautiful and amazing daughter, Alette. She's is the light in our dark, she can bring a smile to your face so easily. I love her so much and am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be her mommy. She has a funny sense of humor already and I can't wait to see how she grows and blossoms into a young woman. It's funny how strong of a love you can have for such a small person.

- Family, I can't even begin to express my appreciation for my family and Nick's family. I love them and don't think I could be who I am without them. Both families have played such important roles in my life and when ever I get the opportunity to hang out with either side I get excited because there's something about just being around family that warms your heart.

-Friends, my family away from family. I love that no matter where you end up you'll make new friends and they end up being your family. It makes living far away from real family not so bad.

- Our apartment, although small, is a nice safe place that I can be confident that my family and I will be safe and warm/ cool if it's hot outside.

- Food/ Water, I know this is a given but there's been a couple times in the last month and a half where we were out of water. I had no idea I used water so often during the day and how much of a convenience it is in our life.

- My phone/ internet. Without this technology it would make it difficult to keep in touch with our loved ones.

Well, for now this is all I can really think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there is a ton of other things and if I do think of something I will be sure to post it.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy October!

Well! this was our first Halloween with our small family. There's something about having a kid that just makes you want to get into the spirit of things. I decided that I would make some Halloween sugar cookies. After Alette went to sleep, Nick and I set off into the kitchen to decorate the already baked cookies, I would have done it with Alette but have you every tried doing something and actually getting in DONE when you have a baby?! I didn't think so. Anyways, I thought it would be fast because we weren't running to a lonely baby's aid every 10 seconds. It wasn't, it actually took us a few hours to decorate a handful of cookies. We resorted in eating the rest that were not decorated so that we wouldn't feel like we gave up.

First taste of Halloween delight

I think she likes it!

"The Baker"

Nick's twin

Which one doesn't belong?

Since Alette is so small (I should say young, there's really nothing small about her) we didn't really want to go trick-or-treating. One, she wouldn't have known the difference and two, we wanted to avoid the stares (mainly because everybody knows a baby without teeth can't eat tootsie rolls, or anything else for that matter. Well, unless you chew it up for her first). We decided that we HAD to dress her up though just so we could record her first Halloween. Nick and I were a little lacking in the dressing up department. We didn't really have anywhere to go so we didn't put any effort in dressing up. We did get to show Alette off at a Halloween Party and our Apt Complex had a little get together for the kids. Alette wasn't too fond of her costume but I thought it was adorable. All in all our Halloween was a success (aside from the fact that we had ZERO trick-or-treaters, I guess we look creepy?). I think next year Nick and I will be a little more enthusiastic about Halloween... not that we weren't this year but like I said before we lacked in some areas ;)! I hope you all had a Happy Halloween, I know we did!!!

Daddy and Tiger Alette. Rawr!

Close up

On another note, Nick has to go down to Trenton, NJ come the end of November which means that I wouldn't have a car or a husband (for that matter) for about 3 months. It sucks, but we've decided the best thing (financially and physically) to do will be me and Alette going to Utah and stay with family there. Alette and I are not happy about it and quite frankly we hate to do it but we also like having loved ones around. One a lighter note, I will also be able to go to Hawaii in January to see my family. Alette will finally be able to meet her tutu and tutu-man. So there's good and bad, but we'll make the best of things. We will be able to spend Thanksgiving with Nick and Christmas, so there's no holidays that will be missed (if you're not counting our anniversary and my birthday, Valentines day and Nick's birthday... I guess we are missing a lot!) O well, we'll just have to do something really awesome when I get back from our "vacation".

Update: Alette is now back to eating as much as ever, she also insists upon eating "big people food". She stares and Nick and I while we eat dinner and waits until we offer her some. I think she's in the midst of another growth spurt (like she needs it!!!).

Help! Eating Issues...

I am the kind of mother that is constantly worried about my baby (what mother wouldn't be). I think I tend to "over worry" and Nick would attest to this. I know I need to "chill out" a little, but before I can I need to talk about it and see if anybody else has gone through this. Okay, se here goes.

Alette went from being a fantastic eater, I mean she was eating 32-35 oz a day. She has always been a good eater, she's is very big for her age and therefore, she needs all those calories. About a week or two ago she suddenly stopped wanting to eat her solid baby food. She absolutely hates baby cereal and has since I've tried to get her to eat it. She does however like to eat vegetables. She also hates fruit, she won't touch the stuff. Anyways, so she stopped wanting to eat solids, then she suddenly wouldn't take her bottle as much. She seriously FREAKS out when we cradle her to feed her, she kicks, screams, and cries. I don't know what to do. She has started to eat her solid food again and she'll probably eat a total of 1 container a day of some kind of vegetables. She has not however picked up on her regular amount of food. She is now MAYBE eating 25 oz a day. I am so worried, and I get so frustrated not with her but with her new eating habits. I feel like a failure, I think "did I go wrong somewhere?", "did I do something wrong to not make her want to eat?". Nick isn't too concerned about it, I should listen to him. He's almost always right. I know I should trust Alette's instincts, and know she'll eat when she eats. What do you think? Do I have cause to be concerned? Should I just "relax" a bit and see what happens?

Anyways, let me know what you think. Thanks!

1/2 a year old!

New Stats:

Length: 28 1/2"

Weight: 19 lbs 13 oz

Currently wearing 12-18 month onesies.

Well our baby is looking more and more like a toddler than an infant. We took her in to get her shots on Saturday. Nick was finally able to make it to one of her appt. and he had to hold her while they gave her 3 shots. It was so sad, but I was glad Nick had to do it instead of me.

Alette can/likes to:

> Roll- She has recently found out she can roll to her tummy, it was driving me nuts because after she got to her tummy she couldn't get back to her back. She now knows how to flip back and forth but when she's tired and/or lazy she just cries and waits for us to put her on her back.

> Eat- She's always liked eating but she really enjoy's her baby food. She LOVES carrots, squash, sweet potatoes. She likes some other vegetables. Although, just the last two days she has really started fighting us about eating, it's kind of worrisome but I hope she snaps out of it soon.

> She still LOVES bath time.

> She really loves paper? don't ask me why but she gets excited when we go and get the mail and I give her one of the envelopes.

> Loves getting her ears cleaned. She stop what she's doing when we start rubbing her ears or cleaning them, she'll just lay there and look at the ceiling.

Well, I can't really think of anything else off the top of my head. She was teething a little but no tooth has appeared yet and it's kind of sad to have an extremely grumpy baby that you can't do anything for. Over all she is a joy to be around. Nick and I have so much fun with her and can't wait to see what her next milestones bring us!

VOTE FOR ALETTE!

I decided to enter Alette in the Gap Casting Call. Vote HERE for Alette and help us dominate! ;)

Thank You!

South Royalton, Vermont

I know I haven't blogged in a while and due to my laziness I will just skip to our latest trip. Nick and I decided that it would be a nice break for us to get a way from the hustle and bustle of our Jersey lives. Since we had no obligations this weekend and Nick had avoided being on call we thought it would be nice to go visit my mother in laws best friend. Elder and Sister Mitchell are serving their mission in South Royalton, Vermont which is the birthplace of Joseph Smith. It was about a 5 hours drive and worth it. The drive was absolutely beautiful this time of year with all the fall colors in full blown. As we drove up onto the ground you could feel the peace and calm spread over us. It is a place of pure serenity. Alette was extremely well behaved. She tolerated the long drive with very little fussing. I was dreading the drive for her but she showed me up! She slept really great the night we got there and was an absolute angel! Below are pictures from our trip.

Alette in the beginning of our trip.

If you want to keep a kid occupied give them a piece of garbage. (out of all the toys I brought her she wanted to play with this. it kept her busy for about 30 minutes!)

Quick picture, on our way to Vermont.

Love all the colors. (Up-state NY)

Up-state NY

There's something about this picture that reminds me of Princess Bride (I don't know why but it just comes to mind). Love it! (Up-state NY)

(Up-state NY)

(Up-state NY)

Elder and Sister Mitchell and us.

Alette's first time being "bundled up"!

The front step to the house Joseph Smith was born in.

Joseph Smith Statue.

Joseph Smith Monument. Put up on the 100th year anniversary of Joseph Smith's birth.

Close up.

President Hinckley stood right here and spoke.

On the way home.

Happy as can be! Love her!!!

On the way home. (sorry about the fuzziness)

This trip definitely gave us what we needed. Maybe one day you'll go there too!

Alright Mommies, I Need Suggestions!

Remember an older blog post I wrote that was about Alette and her magic tricks, well it's starting to drive me bonkers! Alright, so Alette has a tendency of doing 90 degree turn while she's sleeping. This has only become a problem as of recently because she is now long enough to KICK the rails of her crib when her head is against the other rail. Now, you probably are wondering what the problem is and the problem is this, she wakes herself up (either because it hurts when she kicks the rails or because she makes so much racket how could anyone sleep through it) therefore she wakes us up! I'm not sure what we can do because us going in there to correct her from sleeping that way would wake her up too. SO, does ANYBODY have any suggestions on what we could do? Maybe this is what I will have to live with, but we were so spoiled having a baby that slept through the night and I want it that way again! Below are some pictures incase you don't know what I'm talking about.

Before:

This is the way we put her to bed.

After:

This is the way we find her, notice her little feet against the rails.

I decided to put this one because she's so irresistibly adorable!

(I know it's upside down, but that's the charm of it)

Bald is Beautiful

Lately, we have been getting a lot of comments on how cute our baby boy is. Normally, I would feel proud. There is one small problem though, Alette is not a boy! Alette has a little bald head and a black car seat. We got a black car seat hoping it would be unisex enough to where we can use it if we had a boy one day so I can see the confusion. Alette usually wears pink though and has a pink blanket so I still wonder why people think she is a boy. Alette is not ashamed of her baldness though, she told me in a recent conversation of ours that many beautiful women are bald. Have a look at these three beauties...


Granted Sinead O'Conner is a bit nuts a lot of people think she is beautiful. Demi Moore and Natalie Portman sport their scalps well. Even though I think Alette is a bald beauty I really do hope that one day her hair grows in. Not only do I want to learn how to do pig tails and braids, mostly I really just don't want her to end up looking like this...

Four Months and Growing!

My goodness! My little baby almost isn't a little baby! Alette turned 4 months on the 8th. I obviously knew she was going to grow, but I had no idea it would be this quickly and I also didn't think she was going to be so enormous (call me naive, I know Nick and I are slightly above average in height but since she was average when she came out I figured she would keep at that and MAYBE be a little bit above, but o was I wrong).

My Porcelain Doll

New Stats:

Weight: 17lbs

Height: 27"

She currently wears 6-9 month onesies

Alette playing with her ball (her favorite toy)

Alette holding her bottle

Alette can/ likes to:

- Roll over! She has rolled over twice just before hitting her 4 month marker (just by a couple days)

- Sit-up, she can't do it all by herself yet but she loves to be upright to see everything.

- Eats rice cereal, she was a little picky at first but she's getting use to it.

- LOVES standing!

- Still LOVES her baths, it's surprising what a little warm water can do to her mood!

- LAUGHS! I absolutely LOVE IT! I love when she does her funny little giggle.

- Lay in bed with her mommy and daddy. In the morning when I'm too lazy to get out of bed for good I go and get Alette when she wakes up and she'll lay beside us and talk up a storm. (She's probably telling us to get our lazy butts out of bed)

- Enjoys playing with her toys, she realized she can grab things!

- Likes it when daddy tosses her in the air.

She's the best thing since sliced bread!

Etsy Giveaway!

(This is Kelly and the headband she's wearing is like the one you'll win!)

My adorable Sister-in-law, Kelly set up a cute Etsy shop (The Pink Elephant Shop) in February. Since then, she has gotten a lot of compliments about her shop and has also been featured on different sites. The most recent activity that involves Kelly's creative goodness is Dandelion Wishes, they are having a giveaway! You could be a lucky winner if you just follow the instructions on their link.

Playing Catch Up... Sorta

I haven't been very diligent in keeping up with our blog. So I have to catch up a little in this one blog post. Things have been going really well. We've been having a ton of fun on our new adventure. These are just a few of the things we've been up to.

We went to New York and got our first family photos taken. Alette wasn't very cooperative. She was hot and tired and she HATED wearing her headband. We had bought her a size 3 month jumper dress to wear earlier that week and it should have fit her but she was once again too big (she's about 9-10 weeks)! There were a lot of things that I wish I could have changed BUT, our Photographer, Sara Weir (click on her name and see her wonderful work!), did a fantastic job on our photos. I love the colors so much and they actually managed to look really great, we probably couldn't have pulled it off without Sara!

Alette turned 3 Months old! She is enormous. We compare her to the other babies that are a year old in our branch and she is very close to their size. She is now wearing 6-9 month sleepers. We constantly get stopped while we're shopping, people love to look at her, they tell us she looks like a porcelain doll. We are very lucky parents, she giggled for me one day and it was so wonderful. I have been trying to get her to giggle again but I guess I'm not funny enough. I have also been trying to introduce her to baby cereal, she doesn't have the patience for it yet, when she's hungry she wants that bottle in her mouth and no questions asked!

I got a new calling as the Relief Society 2nd Councilor. It's been alright, I have had to teach a lesson and that was a little nerve wracking for me but I got through it. I am also in charge of teaching the Literacy Class, I've only taught one so far and it went really well.

Nick just finished his Psychiatry Rotation. It's bittersweet for me, Nick had such an easy schedule. He was coming home from any where between 12-2 P.M. which was so nice for all of us, we were able to spend a lot more time together than I thought we would. It is nice that he is moving on to his next Rotation, which is Family Medicine. Psychiatry was a little too depressing. Needless to say, Nick will not be a Psychiatrist but he did enjoy the learning experience.

Yesterday was Nick's first day of Family Medicine. He looked so wonderful as he headed out the door with his white coat! I'm so proud of how far he's come!

Mysterious

I don't know if it's just me, but, I swear Alette is magic. Sort of anyway. She just manages to do somethings that I have no idea how she was able to do it, and it's always when my back is turned! Examples:

- We set her in her crib one way and when I go to get her in the morning she is laying in the opposite direction.

- She manages to push herself off of her blanket when she's on the ground.

Well, those are the only two I can think of at the moment, but I know there are more examples I just can't think of. I try watching her to see if I can catch her moving, nothing. She simply will not move around like that when I'm looking. She's a bit stubborn, but I will catch her. Maybe.

2 month and 2 feet

Alette sitting in her bumbo.

Alette has hit her two month mark. She is growing SO fast it's unbelievable.

Her new stats:

Weight: 13 lbs 4 oz (at birth she weighed 6 lbs 15 oz) She's in the 97%

Length: 24 1/2 in (at birth she measured 19 inches) Can you believe that, in 2 months she's grown 5 1/2 INCHES! She's off the charts for height.

At two months Alette can:

Hold her head up for about 5 minutes

Smiles when you talk to her and smile at her

Sleep through the night (she slept 11 hours last night, went to bed at 7:30 pm woke up at 6:30 am)

Put herself to sleep

Things that make Alette happy:

She LOVES to eat, she eats a HUGE amount for such a small belly

Bath time, she will sit in her bath and smile and coo at us, she splashes her little legs too

Sitting up on the couch or in her Bumbo

Her Binky when she's about to go to bed, she'll suck for a little while and then spit it out when she's ready to be put in her crib

Let's not forget...Daddy makes her happiest! (written by her daddy)

Alette's Blessing

Alette was blessed on May 9th, 2010. A day after she hit 1 month. She is growing so fast, and looks so adorable in these pictures. Nick's mom is a seamstress, a very good one too, she made Alette's blessing dress and it turned out to be absolutely beautiful! After her blessing my brother and Nick's family and friends came over to the house and had a nice little get together. It was nice to spend the day with family, my parents weren't able to make it but, I will be able to go to Hawaii in a couple months so that my family can spend some time with Alette. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

She's so perfect!

(I know I'm being bias, but just look at her!)
Notice how blue her eyes are! Nick and I both have brown eyes, I know they have a chance of changing but with how light they are I am pretty sure she will be our blonde hair/blue eyed beauty!
I had to post this one because I love it when she makes this face.
Our first family photo!

Loving Every Moment

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! Sweet smiles that let you know you're doing something right. It makes waking up in the odd hours of the night worth it. It makes absolutely everything worth it!

P.S. Blessing photo's to come soon.