Unsolicited advice

You didn't ask for it, but I'm going to give it.

If you are pregnant or about to be pregnant, and planning on living on one income after the kid is born, buy diapers now!! That was by far the best advice I received when I was pregnant. Brad and I started buying diapers in different sizes when I was about 14 weeks pregnant. Once a month, we made a trip to Sam's, and bought a big box of Huggies and wipes. There were about 10 boxes stacked up in her room by the time June came.

Mallory is almost 10 months old, and I just now had to buy a package of diapers and wipes for her. 10 months people!

Just for fun, I calculated how many diapers and wipes we have used in these short 10 months. I came up with approximately 2,000 diapers and 5,000 wipes. And, we have saved almost $500 by purchasing them in advance. Dave Ramsey would be proud.

So, there is my 2 cents.

A video and a milestone

For the last several weeks, Mallory has been soooo close to crawling. Every time the grandparents would call or see her, they would ask. Every time someone would ask how old she was, they would ask. At first, I was getting nervous that she wasn't developing as fast as other babies. And then we got to see those babies getting into everything and making their parents crazy. So, Brad and I have just chilled out about it and are letting Mallory decide when she wants to do it. Well, I guess that day was today!

She loves to play with her yellow brush after I give her a bath. So, I put the brush in a plastic bin that she had been eyeing and off she went. Now, it's not perfected yet, or very graceful, but she is getting there.

I don't mind though. She'll be walking before we know it...then running...and pretty soon we won't be able to keep up with the little rugrat!

A weekend of cousins!

It is so gloomy today. I thought I would make a trip to Target to get me in a better mood, but a monsoon of a thunderstorm kept me from getting there. Bummer. I am thankful for the rain, but ready for the blue skies and spring weather to be around!

We had a fun weekend of traveling to the metroplex. Brad really has a coosh (sp?) job. He recruits all over, in a school vehicle, get his meals paid for, stay in nice hotels and I get to travel with him and see friends and family I normally wouldn't get to see as often. It's one of the blessings of being a coach's wife.

These pictures are a little out of order, but you will get the drift. Our week/weekend in a nutshell:

Cousin time! Mallory and Tate are exactly 6 months apart, so it has been and will be fun watching them grow up so close. We went to the metroplex for his baby dedication at church. Here is Tate trying to get some tummy time in while Mallory "plays" with his hair. She is also in need of a serious diaper change!! Side note: Thanks for the dress Aunt Jenn, she looked super cute at church!!

Brad's grandparents stopped by on their way home to Houston to visit with Mallory earlier in the week. We thought she might recognize them, since she just saw them a week ago, but she still wouldn't give a smile. Turkey! I always say, "She's smiling on the inside!" I'm just glad we are over the phase of crying when people hold her (other than me and Brad).

I can deal with no smiles, but crying kind of hurts people's feelings.

This is Julia. She is our niece and Mallory's other cousin. Julia is almost exactly 5 months older than Mallory. How fun is that? I am predicting a lot of discipline needing to happen in the next couple of years because of trouble these two are going to get into. She obviously LOVES bubbles!! We got to spend the night in the "country" with her and her parents (we enjoyed seeing you guys too!)


The first "cousin bath"! The girls are now old enough to take a bath together. I think they enjoyed stealing the rubber ducky back and forth. Although, Mallory really liked the spray thingy we used to rinse her hair out with. She was fascinated with it.

There it is. We had a fun and fast weekend. I think Mallory may be allergic to the metroplex though. She has been sneezing snot out of her nostrils all day today!

I'll leave you with that image:)

FYI

Don't use wheat flour or less than the required amount of eggs when making chocolate chip cookies. It's not a good outcome.

Don't let the picture fool you. These cookies were nasty! I decided to be a sweet little wifey and make some chocolate chip cookies...from scratch. I have done this many times in my lifetime, and they never turn out like the Nestle commercial (you know, the cookies in the oven melting down and forming perfect little circle cookies). But, they are usually always edible. Not this time. They started out good, but turned bad pretty quick.

I've been on a wheat flour kick recently (not sure why, except that I heard it was good for you and I was scared that my white flour had bugs in it...did you know you are supposed to store flour in the freezer to avoid that problem? Me neither). I don't think chocolate chip cookies should be made with wheat flour. And I only had 3 eggs instead of 4. I should have just given up then, but I continued. I thought the dough looked a little "sugary and wheaty", but thought it was just the texture of the flour. Out of the oven they came. I let them cool a little and then attempted to get them off the cookie sheet. No such luck. They are as hard as a rock! As soon as I tried to scrape with my spatula, they turned into a crumbly mess. Bummer! I was really looking forward to enjoying the leftover dough and cookies after dinner tonight. I guess I should stick to the break apart dough from Pillsbury.

I am so not a June Cleaver.

Imitation is a form of flattery...right?

It seems like we have begun a new stage with Mallory. She has started copying us! We were with my family over the weekend celebrating Kelly's birthday, and she learned these new noises...almost as cute as her laugh! I tell you what, I think this might be my favorite time to be a mommy so far! I enjoyed the newborn stage because of the sweetness (don't even ask Brad about the first 4 months!), but after 7 months, her personality really started coming out. She is a hoot to be around lately.

Happy Birthday...

...Aunt Kelly!!

Love, Mallory

Now to explain. My sister (Aunt Kelly) started a tradition of buying Mallory all of her "holiday attire". So, in honor of her birthday, I attempted to dress Mallory in everything Kelly has bought her so far. I'm kind of glad I didn't since she got so mad with just the Thanksgiving head-dress. Now you can see why I don't mess with the bows anymore. It's just not worth it...even if she looks super cute with them on!

Anyway. We hope you have a great day today and we love you! Happy Birthday!

Mallory pictures

Here are some recent pictures of Mallory. She is growing up so fast. Sniff, sniff.

Here she is eating a snack of Cheerios and cheddar cheese. You can also see her 2 teeth on the bottom. The white spots next to the teeth aren't more teeth, they are epithelial cysts (what her doctor called them...he said they should go away in the next year...weird). She is getting more used to table food. She's had a banana, green beans, toast, baked beans, ranch style beans, mashed potatoes, a piece of a brownie (!), turkey and probably some other things that mom doesn't want to know about while she was gone! She's also sporting her Cal onesie that Grandpa and Mimi gave her, but it didn't make the zoom, sorry California relatives!

This is my favorite. The other day she took a 2 1/2 hour nap! We were slightly worried about her, so we opened the door to peek our heads in. This is how we found her. The picture is blurry because I didn't want the flash to wake her up before I got the picture...

And then Brad noticed this....


I don't know how she wiggles around her crib so much. She isn't crawling yet, but somehow she manages to get from one side to the other. I'd love to set up a video camera and watch her one night. Crazy sleeper!!

Lettuce anyone?

So, Brad and I had this theory a while back. First, a little history.

When we lived in Abilene, we spent the summer "landscaping". We layed sod in our backyard, put up a new fence (not by ourselves), dug flowerbeds in the front yard, planted shrubs and the unfortunate hydro-mulching of our front yard. If any of you are ever considering hydro-mulching, don't do it. And if you have to do it, make sure you have a sprinkler system. We had a horrible experience with it. It cost a pretty penny and we ended up with a yard full of weeds!! Okay, now on with the theory.

When we moved into our current house, the yard was really pretty. We have thick bermuda grass that was green and looked like it had been well maintained. Brad enjoys taking care of the lawn, so he was pretty meticulous about mowing. About 2 months ago, we started noticing some weeds coming up. Then, it seemed like all of a sudden, our yard was consumed with them (front and back). Our theory was that we brought all of the weeds (in our lawn mower) from Abilene! It made sense. Everywhere Brad had mowed, there were the weeds. Apparently our theory failed. Part of our fence blew down a week ago and we saw the "yard of weeds" next door. So, that brings me to today.

My finger nails hurt. I spent approximately 1 1/2 hours pulling up weeds in our front yard this afternoon. Brad fertilized the yard last week, so I thought I would be sweet and help pull the weeds. Secretly, I wanted an excuse to be outside and possibly get some sun on these white arms of mine! It seems like forever ago that I was even remotely tan (pre-Mallory days). Anyway. Back to the weeds. It started out good. They were easy to pull up for the most part. Then, I got a bunch of ants mad at me, found several spiders (seriously, what good are they?), 4-5 inch long worms, crickets and lots of rollie pollies. I haven't wanted to touch a rollie pollie since I was little...not that I wanted to today...that is what gardening gloves are for! I found some very tough and annoying weeds. I'm not sure what they are called, but they seriously looked like heads of lettuce! And the roots were forever long. We don't have a hand held shovel thingy, so I scoured the kitchen for some kind of tool to use. A cake server did the trick!

Our front yard now looks like the tee box on a golf course. Tons of divots...but, there isn't any more lettuce, so that makes up for it! I didn't even finish half of it, but it already looks better. I made Brad come out and "admire" my hard work. He probably couldn't even tell that I had filled 3 HEB bags, but was nice anyway, and said it looked good. I think I'll work on it some more tomorrow. It's kind of rewarding. And, if you ever have cake at my house, it won't be served with my "gardening tool", don't worry.

He deserves a HUGE gold star!

So much to blog about. First, I have to start with Mallory. Today is her 9th month of life birthday. We went to see the doctor today and got a great check-up. He said she is perfect and a blessing. We have a very sweet and Godly doctor. Mallory has recently gotten some dramatic tendencies when she doesn't like what you are doing to her or with her. (Oh boy for the terrible twos!) He was checking her ears and she was SCREAMING so loud. As soon as he stepped away from her, she stopped and did this little sigh. So dramatic. I wonder where she gets it from? Anyway. Here are her stats at the old age of 9 months: Weight: 18 pounds, 13 ounces (70th %) Height: 28 inches (she is finally getting "normal" and is in the 50th %) and her head is 17 1/2 inches. I would post a picture, but I don't have a good recent one. It'll be coming soon....

Next, I went away last weekend to our church's women's retreat. It was a very good and refreshing time away. I really got to bond with girls my age and the speaker was amazing. I have to admit though, I didn't really miss Mallory...until Sunday. Am I a bad mommy? I guess since Brad did such a good job the weekend before that, I felt completely confident. Plus, my parents came in to help, so that eased my mind.

Which brings me to my last topic, and the best one. I have a fantastic husband. When we moved into our house here in Temple, we painted practically every surface we could. Poor Brad. He was really burned out with painting. Anyway. I still had ideas for painting the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, but thought we would wait until this summer. Well, Mr. Sneaky spent the whole weekend painting our kitchen cabinets for me! My parents had "Mallory duty" and he painted all day and night long. I walked into the house (earlier than he had thought I'd be home) and saw a fan on. My first thought was "Oh no, a pipe busted and the carpet is wet!". I walked around the bar and saw the following sight:

He's amazing and worked so hard all weekend long. It was the best surprise and I'm so glad that I don't have to paint them now:)

The giggle

Last night, when Brad was gone watching a soccer game, I caught Mallory's laugh on video (which is impressive seeing how she always stops smiling, talking

or doing any tricks as soon as we get the camera out).

For some reason, putting a stuffed octopus on my head and letting it fall off was hysterical to her.

Enjoy!

Milestones

This past weekend was a BIG milestone for everyone....I went away for the weekend and left Brad and Mallory by themselves! I think everyone was a little nervous about it in the beginning, but I am so thankful for Brad. He took the "challenge" like a pro and even gave Mallory a bath while I was gone! Not once did I ever worry about them or wonder if Brad could handle it. He is an awesome and FUN daddy! I did miss my little girl a little while I was gone.

On to the weekend. It was a blast! A couple of years ago, for Christmas, Tim and Brad got together and planned this weekend away thing for me and Kara to go on. They made brochures and everything. Very cute. Anyway. Due to certain circumstances (i.e. babies), we just now went on our weekend away. I'm glad the gift didn't have an expiration date!

We met in Fort Worth at lunchtime and were home after dinner on Saturday night. We had a blast! My dad was nice enough to let us use one of his free nights for a hotel. At first we didn't want to shop much, but since we didn't have our kids, and some extra cash since the hotel was free, shopping we did. I'll call the shopping excursion "Mission to accessorize". I am now the proud owner of some new jewelry that will "make my outfits". And we found the cutest, and most expensive, store ever. It is called Simple Things and if you are ever on University in Fort Worth, check it out. The furniture and fabric and everything in that store are amazing! The only thing I could afford were tin letters for a pregnancy scrapbook that I will complete sometime before I pass on....hopefully. Anyway. We had a lot of fun laughing, talking (seriously, you would think that we would run out of stuff to talk about), playing Boggle (which didn't last long since we were up till 3am!), eating (I sure did cheat again and have Taco Bueno and Chick-Fil-A!!), closing down Target and just having a relaxing, non-agenda night away.

I appreciate Brad giving me the time away. Unfortunately, he'll get to be a single dad again this weekend. I'm going on the women's retreat with our church for 2 nights! I probably should have spaced the weekends out a little more....oops! Thanks again, Brad, Tim and Kara!!

Newsflash

(Thanks for the PJs Kara!)

I know I already blogged today, but I had to tell everyone the great news (and wanted to put another cute picture of our girl on the blog)! Nooooo, I'm not pregnant (sorry Sharon!).

Mallory laughed out loud tonight for the very first time!! Yes, she is almost 9 months old. For a while now, she has been letting out these very cute squeals, but no laughter. I have been really worried. I mean, anyone that knows me and Brad, knows that we love to laugh (Brad at me of course). So, after much waiting, it happened while Brad was kissing Mallory's neck. She chuckled...and kept on even when I ran to get the video camera! I don't even care that Brad was the one that got her to laugh first (and smile, and give kisses...who's counting the tricks??). It was soooo much fun to hear her little giggle. It is contagious and makes me laugh!

Life.

It is busy all the time it seems. This post is recapping the past week and a half. Enjoy!


Mallory has joined the "ear infection club". She had been pulling at her ears about 2 weeks ago and kind of fussy, but no fever or any other symptoms. Then, last Sunday, she got kicked out of the nursery for screaming (she wasn't really kicked out)-even I couldn't console her. Thinking it was her teeth (she has two on the bottom now!), I gave her some Motrin and she took a couple of naps. After she went down for the night, she was up every 30 minutes for 2 hours. I picked her up and she was burning up...102.6 degree fever! Poor thing. More Motrin and Tylenol for Mallory. No sleep for mom and dad. A week ago she was "diagnosed". Sure enough, ear infection in her left ear. After a couple of days on the Amoxicillin, she was a different kid. We're glad it's over. Sitting up in a recliner....holding an 8 month old...who can't breathe out of her nose...is no fun at all...for anyone. Although, she was really snuggly and sweet when she didn't feel good. She would just lay her head on your shoulder and stay that way. It was pitiful. (I know you don't believe any of this after seeing her Valentine's picture...that picture took about 15 takes before I got even a smirk out of her!)

Moving on.

The next pictures are of what took place this past weekend. It was a college roommie reunion in Abilene (and Brad threw in a recruiting trip)! The four of us haven't been together since our weddings, so we had a really good time talking...a lot. The whole gang (children and husbands) ate lunch together. Then, we got pedicures. And to finish off, dessert at McKays. Yummy! It was a lot of fun and I'm already looking forward to Homecoming!

After the pedicures. Sorry there aren't pictures of our faces. Clockwise from the top: Meredith, Brooke, Shannon and Lori

The kids: Mallory, Meredith's daughter,

Ella (who is going to be a big sister to Hayden in about 4 weeks!) and Lori's daughter, Faith. As you can see, they were too interested in looking at Ella's peanut on the table, to look at the camera and smile!

We also got to hang out with our "family", the Richardsons! We had dinner together and the girls got to bond with each other. Mallory and Brooke are going to be best friends...too bad they won't be able to share clothes. For those that don't know, Mallory is 11 days older than Brooke. She is going to be very petite...or my kid will be really large!

Mallory is holding Brooke's hand...right before Brooke started crying.

I guess Mallory was being rough. Oops!

Last stop on our Abilene vacation: church! It's always fun to go back to South Side and visit friends. It's strange though. Brad and I both felt like we were really visitors. That's a good thing. We finally feel like Temple is our home. I think Abilene will always be home though. If that made any sense.

Here is my good friend Sarah, and her daughter Noelle. Noelle was born 6 weeks after Mallory. It was fun to have so many pregnant buddies!

And finally, my parents came for President's Day! No, not to celebrate, to see Mallory. It had been a while. We had fun eating, playing at the park and watching all of Mallory's new tricks. We also figured out a good teething toy. Celery sticks! They are hard, cold and don't break up when you chew on them. Mallory had a good ole time chewing away. Thank you, Chili's!

Mimi and Grandpa giving Mallory a kiss. She's not too sure about these people:)

Oh, and the latest news. I am now up to date with the latest cell phone. Somehow over the weekend, my cell phone got stuck on the headset setting (not sure how it happened seeing as I have never even used a headset or have the equipment for it, but whatever), and I could only talk while using speaker phone. Very annoying. So, I was up for an upgrade and rebate with Sprint and I am now an owner of a Razr. I usually get the free Nokia, but Brad talked me into this phone. I'm big time. So big time, I don't even know how to use the thing. I have learned how to take pictures with the camera though.

It is B-E-A-utiful outside! We might have to make a trip to the park again. I can't wait until Spring.

Happy Valentine's Day!

"I heart you."

Love, Mallory

I caved.

I ate Chick-Fil-A yesterday for lunch. Yes, Brad knows about it. I confessed it to him and actually told him I was going to do it before I did it. It was a well thought out lunch!

I am weak, I'll be the first to admit it. There are not many times that I follow through on resolutions...or a lot of other things for that matter. It's one of my flaws and I need to work on it.

But, I am going back to the resolution of not eating fast food, again. I think it is okay to have breaks from the rules every now and then...right? Hey, I went 41 days without it! My problem is when Brad goes out of town I feel the need to treat myself to eating out. I guess I feel like I deserve it since I'm all by myself. I don't think I deserved it quite as much before we had Mallory...being a single mom is tough! And I only have to do it once in a while.

Anyway. The rest of the resolutions are going well. Oh, except for the exercise thing. It's hard because it's been really chilly and I don't want Mallory to be out in the weather. I know. Excuses, excuses....


*Update: Mallory does not have an ear infection. The doctor thinks it's just from her teeth coming in. She isn't pulling at them quite as much, but we did have to leave church early today because she wouldn't stop screaming (even after I held her). That turned out to be her just being really, really sleepy. If the bottom teeth have been this bad, I don't look forward to her top teeth or molars coming in...I better stock up on the Motrin now...

Tag, you're it!

Sorry about the last blog. I was in a goofy mood last night and it might have been TMI. Anywhoo. Moving on. Wade tagged me a while back, so I thought I'd share it with you:

1. I’ve come to realize that my ex-boyfriend...technically, I have never had an ex-boyfriend, so I can't answer this. That is really sad. I did go on lots of dates though...does that count?
2. I am listening to...the hum of my refrigerator and the baby monitor. Brad is gone and Mallory is asleep...it's super quiet right now.
3. I talk...a lot and include way too many details (ask my sister and Brad!).
4. I love...Brad and Mallory...and chocolate chip pound cake (yes, I have a slice at the computer right now).
5. My best friends...are very similar to me.
6. I lost...at a game of Connect Four, Checkers and Battleship all in one night. Yes, I was playing with Brad.
7. I hate it when people...are passive aggressive. I worked with a nurse that was this way, and she made it impossible to work with her.
8. Love is...self-less. I'm trying to work on that more.
9. Marriage is...hard work. I never understood that before I was married.
10. Somewhere, someone is thinking...about what they are going to get their sweetie for Valentine's Day...but not any of the guys...they still have a week to worry about it:)
11. I’ll always be...late, but at least now I have a good excuse! "Sorry, Mallory woke up late..."
12. I have a crush on...Kelly Ripa's clothing she wears on Regis and Kelly. I love all of her wrap dresses!
13. The last time I cried was because...I could relate to another woman's story she shared in the Bible study I'm doing.
14. My cell phone...is always charged, but not always with me...this drives Brad insane!
15. When I wake up in the morning...I make my bed before most anything else. That is the Type A in me!
16. Before I go to sleep at night...Brad and I snuggle and then roll to opposite sides of the bed.
17. Right now I am thinking...Brad might not like that I said we snuggle on my blog.
18. Babies are...sooooo much easier to live with after 6 months! Mallory had a chance at being an only child there for a while.
19. I get on MySpace...never. I think it is evil. Just watch "How to catch a Predator".
20. Today I...bought 2 weeks worth of Mallory food at HEB for $11!
21. Tonight I...finally sewed my curtains in the living room. They have been hanging on the rod for several months just so I can "see what they will look like".
22. Tomorrow I...will take Mallory to the doctor. We think she might have an ear infection. No fun.
23. I really want...to go on a cruise to Mexico this summer with Brad!

I tag Brooke and Sarah!

Mommy's little helper

Recently, Mallory has become quite the little helper around our house. It's amazing. It started around 7 months. She does it every day, almost at the same time every day! Although she doesn't help Brad as much, she tries really hard. He just doesn't let her help him. What is this task she does, you ask? Going shooey! When she was first born, it was noisy and predictable. After she started on solids, not so much. Now, since she started eating meats, she makes these grunting noises, turns a pretty shade of red and then it hits you...the smell! I just got done changing one of the the smelliest diapers ever! "Fortunately" it smelled like last night's chicken noodle dinner, so we knew immediately what the smell was. Isn't she such a good helper?

Pictures!

It's been a while and I don't really have anything to blog about today. So, instead, you get pictures! Everyone likes to see pictures more anyway, so here you go:

Someone had a crazy night of sleep and has the hair to show for it!

First time to swing! Although it doesn't look like it, Mallory really did enjoy it!

Just a fun picture on the couch.

Mallory's first try at "finger foods". She chomped down on that pretzel for about 10 minutes I think!


Her first tooth is officially "showing" and now the one next to it looks like it's about to say hello also. We had our first injury since the tooth came in. Last night I gave her this teether that I put in the freezer and I guess she bit down on it and her lip at the same time. It bled and she screamed. Poor girl.

Apples of Gold

So, I am starting a Bible Study tomorrow morning called Apples of Gold. It's basically a study involving older women mentoring younger moms. There will be cooking lessons, eating the food that we learn how to cook and a Bible study on nurturing things (like kindness, loving your husband, hospitality etc.). I've heard that it is a really good study. I'm excited to do it and have included my "apple seed" of the week for you all (see side bar). Mallory's excited to spend 3 hours in the church nursery...again!

We took Mallory to the park by our house this afternoon. It was the first dry day that we have had in over a week I think. The weather was gorgeous! Blue skies, perfect temperature and a slight breeze. She enjoyed the baby swing, and watching all of the other kiddos. Our child is a good "people watcher"....or maybe she just likes to stare! I wish I could post a picture of her in the swing (and the cute Valentine's shirt Aunt Kelly gave her), but it's taking too long to upload one tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

So many things!

I feel the need to give an update on Mallory. Several new things have happened over the last few weeks. Here they are in no particular order:

First, she is no longer being swaddled at night! And she is sleeping better because of it...I think! A few weeks ago, Brad was putting her to bed and just layed her in it without swaddling her. She just rolled around, talking to herself and being really cute (as we were crouched down by her crib listening to her) and then...silence. She fell asleep! And stayed that way all night. If she does wake up, usually she puts herself back to sleep before I open her door. Bliss!

Second, we are on the way to being a bottle baby! This week we have started the process of weaning her from breastfeeding. So far, so good. I will be a little sad when the whole phase is over. I have really enjoyed breastfeeding. Although the things I won't miss: planning everything around a 3 hour window, feeding her in weird places, and all the other *lovely* things that come with breastfeeding and are TMI on my blog! I have to figure out life as a mom of a formula fed baby now. Hmmm...

Third, Mallory is officially getting her first tooth! It's on the bottom, that is all I know. She will not let me see the darn thing. Every time I try to pull down her lip to take a look, she screams. Not from pain, just from not wanting to be held down. I wonder why? Anyway. I feel it every time she chews on my finger. So, everyone that has come up to me at church, in Walmart, at the mall, family reunions and at restaurants...yes, she is teething! I think I have heard that phrase for 7 months now (she has a thing with chewing on everything in sight), and finally I can say yes!

Fourth, she is no longer a vegetarian. She had her first meal of turkey and sweet potatoes tonight. She loved it! Her repertoire of food is increasing everyday. So far, the only things she doesn't like is peaches. I think they are a little tart for her right now.

Fifth, she is sitting up by herself and has started leaning over her legs and side to reach for things. Crawling might be in the near future, but we are more than happy to be patient waiting for it. It's nice with her not being mobile yet.

And I think that is all for now. I say it all the time, but I can't believe how big she is getting! It is so amazing to watch! I'm so thankful to be home with her and witness all the milestones.