Living Our Love Song

Sleepless Days

2010-05-02T21:05:00.001-05:00

Beginning February 17th, when Cassie began to sit up completely unassisted and then the next day began pulling up to a standing position, we have had trouble taking naps. My amazing sleeper who would fall asleep on her own in 5 minutes or let me rock her to sleep if I felt like it and then transfer into the crib beautifully abruptly disappeared one day. Trying to teach her that she can fall asleep on her own has been trying and frequently required crying for over an hour with a 50/50 chance of actually falling asleep for 15 minutes or so. Because she's fighting it, Cassie falls asleep sitting up and falls over in funny positions. Here's a few that I was able to capture on camera:

First Teeth

2010-04-09T13:02:00.001-05:00

Cassie cut her first tooth on Tuesday, March 30, and her second just over a week later on Thursday, April 8. She is getting SOOO BIG!!! :)

Coloring and Hunting

2010-04-04T17:52:00.001-05:00

Cassie "helped" dye Easter eggs and then "searched" for them!!! LOL!!!

Cassie's First Easter

2010-04-04T16:00:00.000-05:00

Swing into Spring

2010-04-03T15:36:00.001-05:00

We had a church Easter breakfast and egg hunt and Dusty discovered just how much Cassie loves to swing! I'm going to have to start taking her to the park.

Helping Daddy

2010-03-16T12:27:00.003-05:00

Cassie loves standing at the dishwasher while Dusty loads it! This is the first time she did it.

Sun is Shining

2010-03-12T17:03:00.011-06:00

Sun is shining all around,
On the house-tops, on the ground.
Sun is shining on my nose,
On my head and hands and toes!

It was the first beautiful day that really felt like spring. Even the grass is turning green!!!

Pulling Up Already!

2010-03-05T23:47:00.009-06:00

Cassie has recently conquered crawling like a pro and now she's moved on to pulling up! (Just so you know, I still don't think we have enough baby books!!! LOL!!!)

Cousins

2010-02-21T23:04:00.028-06:00

Born only 6 days apart, Madelyn and Cassie are finally old enough to kind of play together. This was a family dinner at my parents' house. It's hard to believe how similar they looked at birth!!!

Dusty's $5 Upgrade

2010-01-28T16:17:00.004-06:00

So the night before last, a plastic piece of our kitchen faucet "fell" out. We just had the cheap, contractor grade, kitchen faucet. So the next day, Dusty went to Lowe's to replace this part:

There is supposed to be another part that fits inside to help separate the water. This part costs about $4. Instead he found a steal of a deal on super clearance at Lowes. For a mere $9, he purchased this faucet:

So for an extra $5, we totally upgraded our kitchen faucet to a $140 faucet!!! He demo-ed the old one and installed this one last night! YEAH DUSTY!!! :)

Why do they call it wrenching your back?

2010-01-19T14:01:00.001-06:00

wrench

–verb (used with object)

1.	to twist suddenly and forcibly; pull, jerk, or force by a violent twist: He wrenched the prisoner's wrist.

2.	to overstrain or injure (the ankle, knee, etc.) by a sudden, violent twist: When she fell, she wrenched her ankle.

Apparently, the wildly talented Stephanie wrenched her back by accidentally kicking a chair. Last Wednesday, I was coming around the recliner - I missed as I threw my leg around to the front and four of my toes on my foot connected with the base of the chair with such a force that I thought I would die. The next morning, the throbbing and swelling had almost completely gone away and I thought I was free and clear. Around lunch-time, I could no longer stand up straight!

The side effects of my gracefulness is on-going and almost a week later, I have yet to recover completely! LOL!!!

Craigslist Upgrade

2010-01-07T15:56:00.000-06:00

A coworker of Dusty's gave us an old Fisher Price Jumperoo that Cassie loved. It was missing the main toy, so we just attached toys to it. The newer jumpers have seats that fully rotate versus the older ones with stationary seats. For a total of $5, I was able to upgrade to a much nicer, newer jumper! I sold the old one and bought a newer one for only $5 more!!! I feel like a Craigslist Superstar!!!

This is the old jumper.

We added some of Cassie's toys to it to make it more fun.

This is the one I upgraded to via Craigslist.

So much fun!!!

First Bite!

2010-01-06T14:11:00.000-06:00

Cassie is just over 5 months old now and has been showing a greater interest in what we've been putting in our mouths (i.e. food and drink). After being away from home for 4 nights and having a cold for a week, she starting waking up in the middle of the night which she hasn't done in 3 months. I don't know if she's about to hit a growth spurt or if there's something else going on, but she acts like she's starving! So I made an executive decision and fed her rice cereal mixed with breast milk for the first time today.

At first, she wasn't sure what to think about the stuff I was shoving in her mouth.

But I think she started to like it after the first couple of bites!

YUMMMM!!!

She kept pushing it out with her tongue...she doesn't know how to eat food yet.

But she's going to try to help anyways!!! LOL!!!

All done!

Yummy Toes

2010-01-04T11:21:00.001-06:00

While changing her diaper, Cassie has been pulling on her toes for awhile now. Saturday morning she put them in her mouth!

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-03T10:24:00.003-06:00

I've only begun to think of New Year's Resolutions and the first that I thought of is staying in touch with friends and family better. Which is what brought me to the computer to blog. This year, I have a goal to blog at least once a week...and here goes New Year's Resolution Number One! YEAH!!!

Cassie's Favorite Gift - Wrapping Bows!

2009-12-25T15:00:00.012-06:00

We had our first Christmas with Cassie! Although she is way too young to know anything about Christmas, she knows that she loves bows!!!

Christmas - Part III

2009-12-25T12:27:00.000-06:00

Our third Christmas celebration was just the three of us on Christmas morning. We had a spectacularly lazy morning. Dusty read the Christmas story and our morning was relaxing and peaceful!

Christmas - Part II

2009-12-24T09:00:00.000-06:00

Part two of Christmas was Christmas Eve with the Clayton's. It was also the first time Cassie got to meet Roger, Glenna, Karly, and Kyle.

Dad

Mom

Emily

Cassie and I

Jessica

Karly, Aunt Glenna, and Uncle Roger

Klye

Dusty and Cassie

Christmas - Part I

2009-12-20T07:23:00.001-06:00

It's amazing how a growing family splits holidays into segments! This year Reed came from California and Brad came from Dallas for an early Christmas. On December 20, we had a great family dinner at my parents. It was great to see so much family together!

Stuart, Shannon, and Madelyn

Jessica and Brad

Emily, Sean, and Tiffany

Reed and Mom

Reed, Sean, Dusty, and Cassie

Korin

me and Cassie

Uncle David and Dad

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!!!

2009-12-04T12:12:00.002-06:00

The first (and probably only) snow this winter came and left on December 4, 2009. Dusty thought I was crazy because I woke Cassie up to go play in the snow!!! It's a good thing I did because it would have stopped by the time she woke up!

(We aren't so good at the family self-portrait!)

After playing hard outside, we went inside to warm up and play some more!

20 Weeks!

2009-03-12T18:46:00.001-05:00

Drumroll please!

It's a Girl!!! (Dusty was right.)

I'll upload the "girl" pics and (if I can figure out how) a video of part of the ultrasound later.

I'm too tired right now...

16 1/2 Weeks

2009-02-15T20:42:00.004-06:00

So now that I'm really into the second trimester, life isn't so miserable! I only get nauseous off and on throughout the day, and I'm only throwing up 2 to 4 times a week. I have a little more energy now although I'm still a lot more tired than I used to be. I just don't require a nap when I get to work and during my lunch break any more! Cooking an entire meal or grocery shopping practically kill me after work! I'm finally starting to show a little and I'm intrigued by the firmness of my baby bump. I'm still waiting for my baby bump to catch up to the size of my "lady lumps" above it! :)

Thanks for all of the loaner maternity clothes!!!

13 Weeks

2009-01-22T20:55:00.001-06:00

It was a lot more fun seeing our little one this time! It actually looks like I have a tiny person inside of me! We got to see him/her move all around, cross his/her legs, and open his/her mouth! I have a little wiggle worm!

Twelve and a Half Weeks

2009-01-19T19:30:00.004-06:00

Well, today I am 12 weeks and 4 days. I have heard others mention that this is about when they started feeling better...not me! :) Even with the help of the miracle drug, Zofran, I'm still "losing my cookies" and feeling miserable half of the time. I'll take half the day to most of the day! I've only gained a few pounds but I think it looks like I've gained 20!

I get to see the baby again on Thursday (at my 13 week appointment). They will also do a NT scan. Dusty and I are excited to try and find out what we're having around 20 weeks. Right now the baby is about 2 1/2 inches long and only weighs a mere half an ounce. This week we will be developing reflexes! All the parts are there already...they just have to grow and mature before we can meet the little one.

Our Family

2009-01-08T12:00:00.011-06:00

July 30, 2009 - the pictures speak for themselves! (Only took 4 1/2 years!)

6 weeks

8 weeks

10 weeks

Numero Uno

2008-12-23T17:25:00.002-06:00

In this crazy paced world, I have come to love keeping up with my friends by reading their blogs. I finally feel the need to join the fun! This is a learning experience and hopefully I will be able to add insites into our wonderfully exciting lives! LOL!!!

I could use tips on the best ways to blog and insider hints on how to have more fun blogging. Right now, everything is a lot of work. I finally figured out how to make the blog "cute." I'm up for sugguestions!

THANKS!

Stephanie