party in the high chair

I guess we should start strapping her in now.

cute new addition

We added a cute new element to our wardrobe today.... HAIRCLIPS! This momma is more than happy about it! :) 

my little helper

We've had a productive morning so far. Thanks to Lucy and her "helping" hands, I've managed to get laundry folded. She is into everything now that she has mastered forward propulsion (aka crawling). 

trick or treat!

Today was Halloween at our house. Our neighborhood trick-or-treats early. We had a pretty steady stream of goblins from about 2-3.. and then it tapered off. Lucy was a pumpkin this year, courtesy of her Grandma Seier. :) Here are a few pictures from our afternoon:
After Lucy goes to bed tonight, Jon and I are going to carve those pumpkins in the picture... :)

a special gift

My mom's dear friend Kathy Coleman sent this gorgeous quilt for Lucy. It was torture waiting for Lucy to wake up from her nap so I could show her. Thank you, Kathy. It is absolutely beautiful!

crawling...

Lucy is on the move. While I was folding laundry this morning, she was crawling/hopping behind the couch. She made her way over to me, stopped, and gave me this huge smile as if to say.."I was just over there!!!!! can you believe it?!"

I love this little girl... more than anything.

7th month celebration

Today Lucy turned 7 months. I can hardly believe those words are being said today. I hate to be so cliche, but it really does seem like yesterday we were holding her for the first time...

We took Lucy to the Concord Zoo today. It consisted of a bunch of farm animals eagerly following us around hoping we had food from the little vending machine. It was cute.

time out for a little blogging with integrity

This topic is not related to Lucy at all, but since I blog, I need to address this. Last night I ran across a fellow mom's blog detailing her horrific adventure through an Atlanta airport with her toddler son. She outlined her terrible experience with TSA with the final point being they took her son! While I was reading this, I was almost in tears thinking about how AWFUL it would be if I was separated from Lucy in an airport, what I would do in a situation like that, and how I would get my baby back! I was going through a range of emotions and ready to leave a comment on her blog expressing my deepest sympathies for her traumatic experience. Thankfully Lucy needed to eat and I was distracted (not an uncommon event at our house..)

I logged back on to the computer a couple hours later and googled "TSA took my son". My search brought up TSA's blog about the incident and released video surveillance of what had happened. It was absolutely NOTHING like her story and she was with her son the entire time. Her son was quietly sitting in his stroller keeping himself occupied while his mother was wanded. Really? Could this film be altered? I watched it another time, carefully watching the other passengers in the TSA line, looking for jerky movements that would indicate a slice in the footage. Nothing. It was real time.

This lady fabricated the entire story. I hope her blog is shut down. I hope she has a serious fine from TSA.

I have seriously enjoyed working on this blog for more than a year. The only thing I love more about my blog is having followers who I hope read and enjoy our adventures in raising a little firecracker named Lucy. I would never write any falsehoods to attract more followers or create some kind of charade that would conjure up sympathetic comments from people I do not know. I blog with integrity.

Another part of blogging with integrity is showing appreciation for work. It takes a lot of work to have a quality blog. Keeping it new and fresh, searching for new "widgets" and html codes, updating pictures, layouts, headers all takes time. If I "steal" a component from another blogger, I am sure to email them and let them know that I appreciate it. A simple little thank you for the work that went into it so I could borrow it for my page goes a long way.

The TSA incident lady just infuriates me. I will not link her to this post because I do not want to give her blog any more traffic by posting the link.

Thank you to all who read and follow my blog. I appreciate it and look forward to keeping you updated on our crazy life for many years to come. I'm also working on a new blog just for myself.. not about babies, but about mommyhood. Looking forward to giving you a glimpse through my eyes.

bathtime fun!

Lucy's favorite part of the day.... her BATH!!!

its going to be a loooong winter..

After Lucy went to bed last night, I started brainstorming about all the things I could get accomplished this winter while we are snowed in in the country. I've always loved crafts and working on projects with my mom. I unpacked my big box of yarn in the garage and started crocheting a hat for Lucy. It was my first attempt and a little saggy in the back, but I'm sure by the time spring comes (and the 100th hat), I'll be better at it. :)

My next project is going to be making baby leg warmers. Lucy H.A.T.E.S getting dressed, so maybe this will alleviate some of the crying in the morning. I'll post pictures as soon as they are done.

crying it out at bedtime

It's time to reevaluate Lucy's sleeping habits. They are horrible. I am exhausted, worn out, and look like I'm carrying too large carry-on bags under my eyes. They are black carry-on bags too... if I do not have have concealer on my face, I look like I have two black eyes.

Tonight we tried crying it out. I know I've visited this topic before, and I appreciate all the tips/tricks/advice that everyone has, but I have to post this for my own reflection. I hope to read this post in a couple weeks and realize that her waking up every 45 to 60 minutes throughout the night is a thing of the past.

Crying it out sucks. There is no other way to put it. It is probably the hardest thing I've had to do as a parent to date. I am still not 100% convinced that this is a good idea. Hearing her scream and cry for me literally makes me sick to my stomach and so anxious I could hyperventilate. Maybe it is the fact that she's our first child and we are cautious not to give her deep ingrained psychological problems.. maybe it's just that I hate to hear her cry.. maybe I am just spoiling her even more rotten by the day.

Tonight was our first night of trying this "behavioral sleep pattern." I'm not sure how it's going to go the rest of the week. Jon is out of town, and I don't know if I have the strength to sit on the couch and listen to my sweet baby's voice get scratchier by the second.

I wish babies were born with the ability to sleep 8-10 hours a night.

whoops..

A little pee never hurt anyone........ hahaha!
Looks like someone didn't get the diaper on fast enough!

portraits

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While we were visiting my mom, we got Lucy's 6 month pictures taken. They are all posted on facebook, but for those of you who missed them.. here are a couple. :)

Lucy Update

Lucy and I just got back from a week with my mom! We had a very fun time in Council Bluffs and Elgin, NE. We traveled to Elgin for a craft fair that my aunt organizes every year. It was a lot of fun seeing lots of cousins, aunts, and friends of my grandparents. Lucy was great the whole time (except for nights, but that's not unusual). She had a blast playing with everyone.

Leaving always makes me so sad. I miss my mom and family so much. There are so many things that Lucy does that I want to share with them. For now, we'll just skype, skype, skype. :)

Lucy is getting bigger and more confident in her moving abilities. She is a rolling machine! No crawling yet.. just scooting. It won't be long before she's taking off across the floor....