I miss you when youre napping

Babies First Christmas!! Alyssa has became VERY mobile. She likes to crawl into places that she cant get out of haha, like under our bench.

 We had a visit from the in-laws the weekend before Christmas, they brought down Alyssas new Cadilac car seat cuz her chubby butt is about to outgrow her infant bucket. The carseat is super super nice and we are very happy with it. They also brought us my favorite gift! A stationary bike! I have been so upset with my weight and body since baby (who am I kidding, Ive always struggled with it) and it was begining to be very impossible to get any kind of workout in...either too hot for the baby, too cold for the baby, too snowy, baby doesnt nap long enough a workout video...it was getting bad. So now I have no excuses! Last week I did 20-25 minutes at a time and dropped 4lbs! (Gained it all back thanks to Uncle Pats artichoke cheese dip though lol) So Im excited to get this bod back in shape...just in time to get knocked up again ;)

 Alyssa and her best freind Bentley, this is right after she was reaching up to grab the tree skirt and I say "No No!" Thats the look I get right before she bursts out in a big grin.

 Such concentration when crawling :)

 This is how I find her after naps now, I lowered the crib to the 2nd lowest level but Im thinking its gotta go down to the bottom one...such a booger. And so pround of herself!

 Christmas!!

 My dad is such a sucker for his grandbabies, I love seeing them with her and Matty and cant wait to meet the newest cousin in April

 Christmas Eve tuckered Liss out.

 She doesnt quite know what to do with presents though, but watching Keegan and Matty and Lily, I know next year she will be all into it...

 Watching the kids play, I like how much time we all spend on the floor now

 These pictures are so freaking cute!! Gonna need a bigger couch next year!

 Liss helping pick out pirate gifts

 Christmas morning...we were more into it than she was, so much fun now with Alyssa. This holiday season was just amazing! Being home from school and in our own house. It was jus the perfect end to a pretty amazing year.

 The brat found the water dish and helped mom mop the floor with her butt! She just splashed around not caring that she was soaking wet!

 Trying to get Matty to share his new bike!

 Cutest grin all day :) My pumkin butt :)

 ALOT of people in our litle house, we agree that 12 is our max. But it was fun to cook the quiche and prepare for a party at our home. Everyone had a blast watching the kids and Im pretty sure we all needed a nap afterwords.

 Her christmas dress!! This picture was taken about 4 seconds before her meltdown and her 3.5 hour nap!

This last year was simply amazing. I remember back to last year, just finding out we were having a girl, working on new years eve until after midnight. Working until bursting out crying on Superbowl Sunday. Baby shower, moving in with Tristan and Michele, quitting working for 'maternity leave' that never really ended, emergency c section, bringing home baby, no sleep, a hot summer, trying to figure out the whole sleep thing, pool time at Debs, lots and lots of firsts, 1 year anniversary with a 4 month old in Tahoe, New house, sleeping through the night, 2 teeth, crawling, and lots of attitude :) I hate when people get all 'my life is amazing' but I seriously couldnt have asked for a better year. Our family and friends are so supportive and happy. All the kids growing up together, new babies born about every 6 months (which cannot continue!! Im just saying) the similarities in all the babes, I see Lily do things that Alyssa does and its so shocking- Like how do they learn that? Im a lucky mom and wife. My husband is great and is such a good provider, he is my second half and I couldnt imagine having this family with anyone else. My kid is awesome. I know Im gonna screw her up somehow but she is the light of my life. Now if only she doesnt turn into a teenager...

7 Months

My little monster has learned to move forward. She started army crawling the other day and it just stops me in my tracks when I watch her do it. Im amazed at how fast she is learning and growing!She can hold her own bottle but is having some issues with the sippy cup. The flow is so damn fast! She wears more formula than she drinks. She also figured out how to sit up from laying down about 6 minutes after she started moving forward. So thats fun to watch also.

This video is her 'scooting' on her butt, she learned how to do it in the bath and finally figured out that she can do it on carpet too!

Liss helped mom search the ads for black friday shopping!

My little green shopper!

Such trouble already!!

One more thing...little bugger is now miss chompers!! She got her first tooth yesterday. She was cranky and kept waking up with super red cheeks and wouldnt let me feel her gums at all (normally she doesnt care whats in her mouth haha) So I ask all the women in my life for some advice and put it to use. So far the ibuprofen works the best and she slept pretty well last night :)

(Also Im trying to figure out my videos...damn thing)

Catching Up

It has been quite a while since I have written. I thought that maybe I would quit the whole blogging thing but then I was looking back at it and really enjoyed it. So Ill try to play catch up! Alyssa is 7 months old today. She is honestly the light of my life. I have 2 weeks left of school in my 1st semester back at UNR in the Business/Accounting major. I actually LOVE my Economics class and am excited that I have like 8 more in that field. I will take my first accounting course starting in January so I guess I will get to decide if I actually like that field next haha!

All my life I know people heard me mention how I didn't want kids, I was never the maternal type. I still don't like other peoples kids (except family of course!!) but I am in love with being a mom. I am lucky enough to be able to stay home with the little bugger and not have to work so that just makes me so happy. I have never been so content with where I am in life than I am now.

Jason got a promotion at work that has enabled us to live 'comfortably'. No new cars or vacations any time soon, but he keeps us in diapers, formula and wine on the weekends ;)

We are also going to have a new cousin for Alyssa in April!! So amazed at how fast our family is growing and so happy that all the kids will get to grow up together and so close in age!

Miss Alyssa is no longer the baby of the family either, Chelsea and Bryce and Keegan introduced Kylee on November 1st :) Such a little sweetie, and I'm sure all of us women are watching Chel handle 2 kids and taking notes so we can succeed like she is :)

 We are officially homeowners as well!! Everyone says the 1st year of marriage is the hardest, so we decided to have a baby and buy a house, just to make things interesting haha! We celebrated our anniversary with  Stacie in Lake Tahoe in a gorgeous house overlooking the lake. That weekend Stacie and Jason ran in a marathon and did AMAZING. The next weekend we got the keys to our first place. It happened so damn fast. I remember talking to Chel about Patrick and Danae putting in offers and that would free up the condo that Patrick lives in, I started to think about living in the condo and then hey, why not see if we qualify?? Well, we did. But hey, why live in a condo when we can get into a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1200sq ft house with a yard and garage and SPACE! So we found a great neighborhood, in Cold Springs. Its a 'lifestyle' development so there is 1 or 2 main roads in but all the houses are on courts, so no thru traffic. So our 2nd time looking at houses, we put in an offer, get accepted and 30 days later move into our own home.

Ill never be able to thank Tristan and Michele enough for letting us share their home for the months that we did. It enabled us to bring our baby into a loving environment and allowed me to stay home for much longer than if we still lived in the rental. The friendships and fun times we shared will always be in my heart :) And luckily we moved when we did so they can paint the new nursery!!

And Alyssa FINALLY sleeps thru the night! (She goes down about 8-830, is up for about an hour at 4-5ish and then up for the day about 730-8) I think its cuz she has her own room and doesn't have to hear the damn dogs all night :) Ok, the little missy is telling me its time for her bottle! Thanks for reading lol!

Baby Bliss

Im sitting here on a rainy day in late May. It would be like any other day except I have a newborn relaxing in her swing in front of me. Im still kinda speechless about it. I have a daughter. I am a mother. My kid is pretty darn amazing, she is cute as hell and is pretty mellow. She sleeps for 3-4 hours at a time and is a really good eater. My boobs hurt but thats to be expected. Im tired but thats to be expected. So far my first 3 weeks as a mom has gone smoothly. My surgery recovery has been ok, my incision got sightly infected and opened up. It started oozing and was pretty painful but after just one day on antibiotics I felt like a new woman. Im off the painkillers now and I am feeling 95% normal. Jason has taken to his daughter just amazingly- he is just so smitten with her. Even though she has pee'd and poo'd on him quite a few times. Im trying really hard to be open minded about everything baby, if he wants to rock her one way then so be it...if he wants to get puked on because the rocking is too rough then so be it :) But its a learning experience and he is doing great! Im not super confident about how to deal with a fussy baby in public yet, so I have been limiting my outing to shorter 2-3 hour trips. Im sure Ill get more comfortable here soon. We got our newborn pictures done and I will be posting those soon...

Well...the day has cleared and the baby is starting to wake up...so Im off for now...Ill update more when I have some more free time :)

Alyssa Mae update

So doc found out what my mass was, it was a cervical polyp about the size of a big fist. I guess they are pretty common and not harmful. Mine might have been an issue though because of its size and because it was bleeding pretty bad. Either way, Im glad its nothing serious and we are both happy and healthy :)

Alyssa Mae

So I had this whole long post written out about the delivery and how freaking scary it was but I really dont want to rewrite it or re-live it. So Ill just post about how precious and perfect my baby is so far.

Alyssa Mae was born Friday May 6th due to an emergency c-section. I went to my normal doctors appt with my mom and Jason and the doc found some sort of mass on my cervix that was bleeding pretty bad, he said walk quickly over to labor and delivery and he will meet me there in about 45 minutes. I was sorta prepared to have the baby but I was not prepared to have her in less than an hour because the doc thought I was going to bleed out. The whole procedure went super quick and in no time I heard her cry for the first time. Jason went with her to the nursery and I met everyone in my room to wait for the babe. She is so freaking cute!! And so sweet.

Full term and the meaning of patience :)

Well, here we are. 37 weeks pregnant and considered 'Full Term'. I'm amazed everyday how quickly time has gone by. I'm not too sure where it has gone, but it is flying!! I am officially off work now. Silver Legacy was a good time (mostly haha) but its been so nice this week just relaxing. I am not rushing to get all my 'chores' done on my 2 days off, I'm not dreading Wednesdays anymore. I get to wake up on my own time (no more sleeping in though, damn my back hurts now!) and settle in the mornings with my kitty and pups with some Animal Planet and then Baby Story. Such a busy day ;) My folks got to pick up their new puppy on my 29th birthday, he is pretty darn cute! His personality is alot like our beagles though so its going to be entertaining watching them deal with a 'spirited' dog, so unlike the calm mild mannered Grizzley.
I'm almost certain that we are prepared for little Alyssa. Her beds have been put together with water proof pads and sheets, her animals are all just waiting for her. The quilt that Aunt Maureen made is perfect! So sweet and soft and just how I imagine my wee one to be. Mom made us the bumper to go around the bassinet that we borrowed from Aunt Joyce, the wicker was a bit daunting to me so the bumper just makes it more soft and gentle.

A friend of the family was generous enough to offer us their old crib, even though I wasn't planning on putting a crib up for a few months, after I found the perfect bedding set, I HAD to have it all put together. Uncle Tristan helped us put the thing together, since Jason and I had no idea how to begin that task. The bedding set we found is all in pale greens and pinks and is so delicate and feminine...its so sweet. The set came with 3 cute little baskets, a lamp, curtains, bed skirt, sheets, comforter and bumper. All for $50!! We have been very lucky with all the purchases for the baby, so far we have been quite thrifty :)

I was able to FINALLY find some free hanging shelves to put up for Alyssa's corner. I got an adorable piggy bank and I have unpacked a couple of my old music boxes and some of my moms old statues to have out. It was hard to find just normal hanging shelves, Walmart, Target and the other bigger stores all thought I was nuts when I asked...But so far, our little room in Tristan and Micheles house has really come along, it is beginning to feel like home :) The only thing missing is the 6th member of our family to arrive and join Dexter, Griffin, Bentley, Jason and I!

The pregnancy has been picture perfect so far. No bad test results, everyone is healthy and happy. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. I keep thinking that something has to go wrong because everything has been so damn easy. I'm trying to just relax and enjoy the last few weeks of this time but its getting hard. I'm uncomfortable most the time now. My back hurts at night so sleep has been getting rough. Walking around or doing much of anything makes me so winded! If I attempt to shave (blind, mind you, that's scary haha) or put lotion on my legs I loose my breathe and end up breathing deep for an hour afterwords...I feel so out of shape. My belly has grown out quite a bit and I finally feel like I am this far along. So far I have no stretch marks, but I'm not crossing my fingers too long on that one, I know they may appear once the belly starts to shrink again. I'm so excited to get my body back too, to not be STARVING all the time, to do yoga and go for walks and fit into my old clothes again. Ive been pretty lucky though, I'm sitting at 25lb gain so far and I only bought 3 maternity pants and a handful of shirts. The baby is getting pretty cramped inside there though, she doesn't really kick anymore, but she does do karate or gymnastics. I honestly think she stands up sometimes too. My belly will get so distorted and lopsided, its like she is trying to come out from the side!

We had our 37 weeks appointment this morning and the doc and nurse kept saying how they couldn't believe I'm already this far along! At least its not just me, and I know time is flying for everyone involved! Last week the doc said my cervix was high and closed. Today, he said its half a fingertip and lower and he could feel her head! She is head down and in position to make her appearance so now its just a waiting game...we shall see what day she decides to come out :)

Baby Shower and some reality...

34 weeks pregnant! Ive had a dose of reality these last couple weeks. I have never been so tired or so uncomfortable in all my life. I feel like I am the laziest person alive but all I want to do is lay in bed and read or sleep. I have to consciously make myself get up everyday. Also my new favorite symptom is hip/pelvic pain. I feel like baby's head is right against my pelvic bone and is bruising the hell out of it. If I walk for a bit, like to the bathroom, I get sharp stabbing pain in my lower abdomen and hips. So, after my easy breezy 1st two trimesters, this 3rd trimester is kicking my ass. I'm in no way ungrateful for my daughter or how so far everyone is healthy and strong...but I think its good to get the real truth sometimes. Its not a walk in the park. Its exhausting....

My little girl is one hell of a kicker though, I swear she is in my belly just swirling around and tossing and turning and kicking and punching. I feel her in my ribs, in my bladder, and now I feel her in the crease between my leg and hip...I know she isn't physically there but I can feel her all over! Ive heard that you should feel a decrease in movement as the baby runs out of room but this little girl has not gotten that memo. Its still so unreal to see the movements in my belly. I love the feeling.

We have settled into the new place pretty well, most everything is in its right place and just waiting for the baby to come and add some chaos. I have 2 1/2 weeks left at work and I'm STOKED to be done. We have been able to put some money away and I feel comfortable enough to take 3-4 months off to spend with Alyssa. At the end of summer I will start classes again at UNR in the Accounting major. Hopefully I can get into a part time job Jason and I can start paying off all the bills. I'm excited to be in a place where we are capable and able to pay off our own debt and start our lives on the right foot. I feel that we put ourselves into this position and we are the ones who need to dig ourselves out. I feel proud of us.

Onto the fun news! The baby shower :) I'm not actually a fan of being the center of attention so showers are kinda uncomfortable for me. I don't like asking for gifts and I don't feel that everyone else should be gushy about my baby. I'm so amazed and happy that my family and friends all are genuinely happy for us and excited for Alyssa's arrival. Its going to be amazing to watch all the babies grow up together, I'm so so so excited for the months to come, and even more excited for this holiday season...it seems the family grows exponentially every year. The Cousins, all together for all our important parts of life :)My best friend Jenn, holding Oliver and Lily. So glad she could make it up to Reno for my shower...The funniest picture of the night LOLAll the goodies!My gluten free cake with "Welcome Alyssa"All my ladies, so much love for them!!

Almost there!

Almost 33 weeks along now! Im hearing stories about women going into labor now and having thier babies, that makes me kinda worried, but kinda excited too! I really, really dont want to have Alyssa stay at the hospital or not be perfectly healthy, but Im so happy that if I did have her soon that she would more than likely survive and thrive. Its an amazing time in our lives, thats for sure. The baby is kicking like crazy and has made herself at home punching my bladder and kicking the crap out of my ribs. The movements are getting to be pretty shocking, almost uncomfortable. But the coolest part of my day is to simply stare at my belly and watch the movements. She is gonna be a mover and a shaker! We finally rented our house and are moved in with Tristan and Michele. It was a stressful week but its going to be the best move for us all. To be able to put away most our money to save for a house and pay off all bills...thats going to make it a much saner time buying our first home. Hopefully our only home. I dont want to move again! I have 4 more weeks of work until Im done with Silver Legacy. I am so grateful they have given both Jason and I a job when we needed it the most but it is time to move on. April 24th is my last day of work, putting me at almost 37 weeks pregnant. I get to spend my 29th birthday on 'vacation' at 9 months preggo! Ill take a virgin margarita please! Here is my 31 week belly

And my 33 week belly...

In fun news too, Friday is my baby shower, so Ill upload those stories and pictures after the fact!