Fun Stuff

As I mentioned in my post yesterday- Ally just pulled up for the first time on her own with the assistance of this little table. She was so proud of herself and she looked so cute in this new little brown sweatsuit that I just had to take her picture!

In other fun news- feeding therapy was great yesterday! They were so impressed with Ally's progress over the past week! She ate a whole tub of bananas and half a jar of green beans! The beans took a little more coaxing, but she did pretty well with them. We also worked on taking a sippy cup and a juice box- both were pretty messy endeavors. We came away with a lot of homework to work on before our next appointment in two weeks. We also got the green light to try more veggies, cream of wheat or oatmeal, yogurt & ice cream! I'm heading to the grocery store after work today to stock up on all these new foods. With any luck, we'll be able to give up our standing therapy appointment soon and they'll see us on an as needed basis. I'm SOOOO ready to put all of these eating issues behind us!

Lastly- today marks the end of my second week on weight watchers and I'm pleased to report that I lost another 2 pounds this week which brings my total loss to 7 pounds! Whoo-hoo!

She's Going the Distance, She's Going for Speed...

As always, please excuse the goofy commentary. ;-)

Ally Makes Some Big Changes

Although we didn't do much of anything, Matthew, Ally and I really enjoyed our nice long weekend together. I took a ton of pictures of the little peanut because I hadn't sent any to her grandparents for a while. I've posted the best of the bunch.

You can never have too many pictures of a naked baby in the tub!

Ally has finally figured out how to sit up in her armchair!

It was very cold on Friday so Ally was all bundled up- she didn't really like having her hands and feet covered up.

What a mischievous little grin! She continues to charge straight for the dog food bowl.

Ally is now eating cheerios! We've reached a whole new level of messiness now. Thankfully Morrison camps out under her highchair to clean up any mess on the floor!

A nice family portrait taken after church on Sunday.

Two happy girls!

Just being silly in the kitchen.

Ally had just finished an entire container of baby food in one sitting! This was a huge accomplishment!

As you can see from this last picture- we've had a major breakthrough in the eating department. Last week when we went to feeding therapy we met with the director of the speech pathology program and she felt that it was time to stop being Mrs. Nice Guy with Ally. It has come down to a battle of wills and Ally was never going to start eating normally at the rate we were going. It was by far the hardest and most productive session we've had. I held Ally's arms down while the therapist forced her mouth open and deposited some bananas while repeatedly saying "open, open, open, open...." I was near tears for a while because she was so unhappy, but by the end of our appointment she was willingly accepting spoonfuls of bananas when I said "open!"

Over the last week we've built up to three full servings of food/ day and have even begun to introduce some veggies. Ally likes sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash but is definitely not a fan of sweet peas- she gags with every bite. We'll be trying green beans this afternoon. She's also eating some cheerios and yogurt melts. She's still behind on the eating curve compared to most babies, but she's made huge progress in a short amount of time. We're very encouraged and are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Ally and I go back to therapy today and we're very excited to show off all we've accomplished!

Ally has also made a lot of progress on the crawling front. She's gotten a lot faster and a lot more confident in her mobility. The minute we put her down on the floor she makes a beeline for the dog food and water bowls and she's figured out how to crawl over obstacles like a pillow or a leg. She likes to follow the dogs around, and is content to putter around in the kitchen when I'm in there preparing meals. She also pulled herself up into a standing position with the assistance of her activity table for the first time yesterday! We're obviously so proud of our little peanut!

In other news, Matthew will be checking out of his squadron on Friday. We're leaving very early Saturday morning for Florida to attend a wedding and spend a few days in Tampa with the Martins. When we return Matthew will check in to his new position as the Mini Boss on the USS Baton. The Mini Boss is an assistant to the Air Boss who oversees operations on the flight deck, hangars and air-space near the battle group. It is a non- flying billet so he'll be stuck at a desk for the next few years, which he's not too excited about, but I'm hoping he'll find some things to like about the job. At least he's worked for the Air Boss and the Executive Officer of the ship before and he'll know all the pilots and aircrew man that deploy with the ship since they're from his old squadron.

That is all for now. Thanks for checking in with us. More soon!

A little pat on the back

I'm giving myself a little pat on the back today- I've been back on the Weight Watchers diet for one week and in that one week, I've lost 5.5 pounds already! I know the weight loss won't continue at that rate, but it's a huge boost to my motivation to see such good results. It's been a lot harder this time around because I'm not nursing anymore so the number of points I'm allowed to consume in a day went from 31 to 20! It's taken a little getting used to, but I'm making it work and Matthew has been a great sport about eating WW friendly stuff that I've been cooking in the evening. Here's hoping the rest of the 10-15 pounds will come off just as easily! Now if I can just get back on the exercise train.....

Random moments with Ally

Here is Ally taking a spin in her sweet new ride.

This was Ally's first time to sit up in a shopping cart like a big girl. She had fun checking out Costco from a whole new perspective!

Who knew a box could be so much fun?!

Morrison wondered what all the fuss was about but he couldn't fit in the box

Ally rowed her boat ashore in the kitchen

There She Goes!!!

Our little Ally finally started crawling on Friday night at 10 months and 1 day! She doesn't go far yet and she's only interested in going after the dog food bowl so far but it is still really exciting for all of us. She laughs and shrieks the whole time so I know she's enjoying her new mobility as much as we are.

Our California Trip

We arrived in San Diego on New Year's Eve. It was a rough flight- Ally only slept for about a half an hour of the 8 hour ordeal so she was not a very happy camper. We had an open seat in the middle of our row, but try as we might- we couldn't get her to sleep in it our in our arms. By the time we arrived back at my parent's home, fed her and put her bed, we had no energy left. We watched the ball drop in NYC then promptly went to bed. This would become a pattern throughout the trip- I don't think we were up past 10pm once. Ally never quite adjusted to Pacific time so she was up every morning between 2:30 am and 4am. I did most of the early morning wake ups so I was pretty much zonked the entire trip. Thankfully she adjusted back to Eastern time with no trouble when we returned.
The big event of our visit was a 65th birthday party for Ann (or the 5th anniversary of her 60th birthday as it was dubbed....) on Saturday night. Due to a badly broken wrist, Ann was unable to do much to prepare for the party so Matthew and I got to pitch in and help with a lot of cooking, cleaning, errand running, etc. I finally got to make and taste Ann's famous enchiladas! Delicious! The party was a huge success and 35 people went home full & happy- didn't hurt that the Chargers pulled off a huge win over the Colts either!
We managed to find time for some shopping, a nice lunch with friends Christine & Tony, drinks with my cousin & his girlfriend, and a few long walks. We had lots of time to visit with family but it still wasn't enough for me. I was sad to leave even though I was happy to come home again. I'm already looking forward to my next visit sometime in the Spring.

Ally with her great aunt Susan & Mommy

Fascinated by Grandpa Nick's birthday balloons


Dad with his new lighter- a cool birthday gift

Ally and Daddy in the tub

Look at those big blue eyes!

Naked girl with spiked hair

Is there anything cuter than a naked baby with a full tummy?

The enchilada assembly line

A beautiful Cardiff sunset

Ally with her grandparents

Resolutions for 2009

In an effort to hold my own feet to the fire I'm going to record my New Year's resolutions for 2009. I'm just as bad as everyone else at sticking to them, but I thought this would be a good way to look back throughout the year to monitor my progress.

Here goes- my top 10 list.... these are in no particular order

1. Eat more meals at the table and less on the couch in front of the television
2. Loose 15 pounds and get in shape before getting pregnant again
3. Get pregnant again
4. Make the time to start reading again
5. Quit my job
6. Be less bossy
7. Pray more and worry less
8. Become more thrifty- clip coupons and bargain shop
9. Eat organically grown and free range products whenever possible
10. Survive a 6 month deployment with a strong marriage

We're Back.....

We're back... well sort of anyway. We arrived home from vacation in San Diego late on Tuesday night. Matthew and I both took Wednesday off to get back in the swing of things and to get Ally readjusted to Eastern time. I'm back at work today and frantically answering emails, returning calls, and shuffling paperwork so no time to download pictures or post a lengthy update. I'm hoping tomorrow will be the day. Stay tuned.....