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!