Potty Training and Pictures

No, the pictures aren't of the potty training.
Last week Mikey went to a Huggies sponsored potty dance party.  Myself and two of our mommy group friends were all chosen as hosts.  This means we were each sent 14 packs of potty dance dvds, coupons, and other things to get the kids excited about potty training.  We did not have 32 kids so there are a lot of packs left over :)  If anyone wants one or knows someone who might, please let me know.  So after watching the dvd which highlights little kids learning about the potty, Mikey was motivated.  As soon as we got home he asked to put on his underwear.  Since then he has been wearing underwear at all times except sleep and school.  We do still have accidents and he isn't yet great about letting us know when he has to go but we are pretty encouraged.  He has been pretty calm about the whole thing and it's pretty easy to give him something to keep him on the potty long enough to go.  Mike gives him the iphone games and I read him books.  I am really glad we have tile though.

The other exciting thing is Ayla's 6 month old pictures.  Here is the link Ayla's Pictures  So this morning she and I went to the photo studio with  two really cute outfits my mom has bought for her and got her all dolled up.  I purchased the hair bows from and online friend a few months ago in preparation.  She was really good for her pictures and I was really pleased with how they turned out.  If everything goes well withthe delivery of the pictures we will use the studio, Kiddie Kandids, again.  We have done Mikey's pictures at both Sears and JCPenney before.  JCPenney was a bit far and so busy you have to wait a while even with an appointment.  Sears lost half of the session from Mikey's 1 year old pictures so I would really like to never use them again.

And best of all, today I went to the mall without the kids.  Mike took them for the afternoon so I could go pick up some new makeup.  (Apparently foundation turns to pure liquid after 6 years.)  I found a new pair of pants at Old Navy (impossible trip with kids) and got most of the makeup I intended (still forgot the foundation).  The best part was enjoying a pretzel alone in my car after shopping.  There was no one screaming, napping or expecting me home 5 minutes ago.  Aaah, the bliss :)

Lizards And Eating Solids

I'll start with Ayla's news since it is not likely to make anyone feel sick.  Ayla started eating bananas this week.  We had the go ahead from the doctor last week to offer her solids so we put some banana in her basket feeder and let her chew on it.  She loves it and gets very mad at it when it runs out.   She's been eating at least a half banana at each dinnertime while the rest of us eat our dinner.  She sits happily in her high chair and gets herself super gooey.  Tomorrow we are going to start baby oatmeal.  I suspect she will like that as well.

On an even more exciting note (especially for me), she seems to be outgrowing her milk allergy.  I've been testing with small amounts of cheese and baked goods with trace milk in them and so far she has been fine.  I did go overboard last weekend with some bubble tea that had cream in it and that did seem to upset her a little.  I am so thrilled!  I can easily eat a diet with only very small amounts of processed milk.  I can finally see the light at the end of the special diet tunnel!

Now for something really gross.  And you know it's bad when I, who cuts open abscesses at work, finds it disgusting.  On Thursday morning when I woke up, Mike told me he had already started the washer because it smelled bad.  I assumed he meant that it smelled of his workout clothes.  While it was running there was a weird mildew type smell coming from the washer closet but we couldn't find the cause.  Mike took Mikey to school and I went about my morning.  I went to move the wash to the dryer.  As soon as I opened the washer I knew there was something dead in it.  Believe me, I have smelled enough dead critters to know that smell immediately.  I was horrified!  Not only was there something dead in the washer, I had to find and get rid of the dead thing!  I pulled the wash out, one piece at a time.  I shook each piece over the washer before making a pile on top of the dryer.  The clothes smelled horrible!  If it hadn't been a very large load that included Ayla's favorite blanket, I may have thrown the whole load away.  Knowing how frugal I am, you get the idea of how bad this was.  When I got to the bottom of the washer my fears were justified.  There, sticking out of one of the drain holes, was half on a lizard with the skin pealing off.  I wanted to cry, scream and throw up all at once.  I used a baby wipe to remove the pieces and swab the inside of the entire washer.  I then ran an empty run with lots of bleach, hot water and an extra rinse cycle.  I then ran the clothes with lots of vinegar, hot water and an extra rinse.  And the clothes again with detergent, hot water and extra rinse.  The clothes then smelled fine.  As I moved them to the dryer I shook each one out to check for any more pieces.  I didn't find any.  Mike removed the clothes from the dryer.  There at the bottom was the lizard's tail.  I nearly a hysterical fit.  I think he saw the look on my face because he quickly reassured me the clothes smelled good so we were okay.  I think I will always shake my clothes out before washing from now on.  And hopefully Mike now can smell the difference between nasty gym clothes and decomposition.

Sick Kids...

You know it's been a rough day when both of your kids throw up all over you.  (sigh)

Mikey has had a nasty cold for just over a week now.  He had a fever for 4 days that only stayed down with medication.  We got over that part but he still has a runny nose and a lingering cough.  Now, this kid has the most sensitive gag reflex ever.  Anything that makes him cough or cry too hard is likely to make him throw up.  During this illness we have had full blown vomiting 3 times and minor spitups twice.  It makes it really challenging to parent him while sick.  So yesterday afternoon I was trying to get him ready to go to the store and he got upset, started crying and then started vomiting all over both of us.  So much for going to the store.  Luckily Mike was home so he could go straight to the shower while I cleaned up the floor (thank goodness for tile).

Ayla caught this nice cold from Mikey and has been pretty fussy for 3 days.  Yesterday she started to get a fever.  While the fever was mild she does not clam easily.  In the middle of the night I went to go feed her and she was inconsolable.  She was crying, screaming and thrashing around.  I got some medicine into her and was trying to clam her when all of a sudden, full blown vomiting.  She rarely even spits up so this was not expected.  I managed to keep it puddled in my lap as I waddled to her changing table to get her cleaned off.  I stripped both of us down and once she was on new pajamas I got Mike up to hold her while I showered.  Not how I like to spend the hours of 2-4 am.  I took her back from Mike and finally got her settled down.

Today they are both still coughing and have runny noses.  I am so ready to be done with isolation so we don't pass this on to friends.  I have only gone out to work, the grocery store and walks around the block.  The only thing that could make this worse is if I catch it and Mike leaves town for work...

First Tooth!

Ayla got her first tooth this morning.  If you have learned anything about her from my posts, it is that she is not easy going.  So the past few days have been punctuated with high pitched squeals anytime something touched her mouth.  And let me tell you, this girl has some good lungs on her.  I'm sure the neighbors wondered what strange animal we had over here.
We are really excited to have one down and suspect there are several more right behind it :)

Ayla Is 6 Months Old Today

Today Ayla is six months old.  I'm conflicted whether I like this or not.  It is really fun to see her doing new things and really developing a personality.  But it also means my last baby is no longer a little baby.

I'm going to use this opportunity to tell her story.  Ayla was a little surprise as a result from my six weeks joining Mike in California last fall (I know, too much information).  I had pretty bad morning sickness which made flying home alone with Mikey an extra challenge.  Mikey and I still had 3 1/2 weeks by ourselves while Mike finished his California job.  It is torture to grocery shop and cook for a two year old while you want to throw up all the time.

Most of my pregnancy with Ayla was very easy.  I was tired but felt good and was able to continue being active.  I had very little swelling and water retention (vast contrast from Mikey).  I did develop gestational diabetes which was not fun but it did force me to exercise and eat right.  I am thrilled to say I only gained 27 lbs during the entire pregnancy (45 with Mikey).  I was even at the beach playing with Mikey the day I went into labor.  My mother-in-law will claim it was the gorgonzola cheese but I think it was coming anyway ;)
 
Not too many people know this but I have become a bit of an advocate for VBACs.  That is a vaginal birth after cesarean.  Mikey was a necessary cesarean (placenta previa and vasa previa) but I did not enjoy the experience and really hate what strong pain medications do to me mentally.  Luckily, my same doctor that I have had since moving to Miami is one of the few in Miami that will allow VBACs.  We discussed it at my first visit for Ayla's pregnancy and she said I was a good candidate.  For those that think it is too risky, it really is no more risky than a repeat c-section.  Both are simply more risky than a vaginal birth in someone that has never had a c-section.  When I went into labor my doctor didn't even mention a c-section, just if I was ready for my epidural (boy, was I).  Ayla's birth went great with very minor issues (usual tearing and hemorrhoids).  It was so much easier than Mikey's.  I was sitting up, feeling great and happy less than an hour later.  I am so glad my doctor gave me the chance to let my body do what was natural.

Ayla has been feisty from the start.  They first took her from my breast to go to the nursery to be checked shortly after birth.  She screamed the entire 2 hours she was away from me.  This has become a pattern.  She will let you know how she feels and she may change her mind in the blink of an eye.  She is a total momma's girl and loves to be carried around in her baby wrap carrier (as seen in our facebook pictures).  She is very curious and loves to run her fingers over new things.  But if something starts to frustrate her she will scream at it and bang in on the floor.  Very amusing :)

She did end up with one major health issue.  After her screaming all of her waking hours for the first 5 weeks of her life we finally figured out she had a milk allergy.  I feel bad it took us that long to figure it out.  The poor girl pooped 15-20 times daily, had horrible gas and an ulcerative diaper rash that wouldn't heal.  I would scream too.  We decided the best for her (she loved to comfort nurse) would be for me to stop eating all dairy and nurse her exclusively (no formula).  Nursing her has been easy (didn't work with Mikey) but no dairy can be annoying.  It is amazing how many foods hide dairy on their products.  There was one day that I thought I ate safe but Ayla's tummy tols me otherwise.  We later food out it was a bread I had eaten.  I will be thrilled when she outgrows this.  I am really sick of special diets :(

Anyway...   She is a very strong little girl who rolls over, sits up for a while on her own (when placed in sitting position) and acts pretty close to trying to crawl.

We love her to pieces!!!!!

Zen With A Floor Steamer

One of the reasons I love Miami is the weather.  We consider it cold when it hits the 60's and it doesn't go above 100.  I know a lot of people hate the humidity but I love it.  It helps keep my skin moist and it just gives that tropical feel.  This lovely weather means I never have to wear real shoes.  Flip flops are the standard footwear here.  In fact, I would love to go barefoot all day in my house.  But I can't...  Between a dog, a two year old, and a husband, the amount of dirt that lives on my tile floors is too much to have stuck to the bottom of my feet.  So I have my indoor flip flops.  Sounds like the problem is solved, right?  Well, Ayla is 6 months old this week and looking like she is planning to crawl soon.  If I can't stand to have the stuff from the floors stuck to my feet you know I won't be okay with it all over my baby's hands and knees.
Luckily, Mike's stepmom is as much of a neat freak as I am and had some great ideas.  Since I need to be able to clean during nap time we decided stealth was essential.  I ended up with a dust mop and a eureka envirosteamer.  I had a dust mop before and find them very handy to pick up dog hair without spreading it through the air.  I did buy a new one that has washable heads.  Super easy to use each morning while everyone is having breakfast.
The steamer arrived last week.  I had to wait until I was over my cold so today seemed like a good day.  Mike and Mikey left for a bike ride and I put Ayla down for her nap.  The assembly and instructions were super easy so I was pretty excited.  I put the water in and plugged it in.  Once it was hot it emitted the most gentle of hisses.  I put it on the floor and started gliding away.  It slid very easily and picked up the grape juice stain with one pass.  Because it works better if you move a bit slowly I really began to relax and enjoy passing it across the floor.
Ayla woke up about fifteen minutes after I started.  I tucked her in the wrap and we began to slowly glide across the room with the new steamer.  There is no extra effort involved with pushing it so having Ayla's weight added was no problem.  She loved the gentle walking and and floor was shiny and new.  Who thought I could find cleaning the floor so relaxing?  I think I have found my new relaxation activity.  I am forced to move slowly and smoothly and there is only the quietest hiss.  It reminds me of when I used to practice tai chi (yes, I really did).  My mind was empty and it was calm in my house.  Thank you Eureka.

The Glass Is Half Full... With A Crack In It

So my glass is half full, with a crack and a lipstick stain because it never got washed.  In case you can't tell from that sentence I'm a pessimist, and a bit sarcastic.  Most days I keep the pessimism in check but other days I embrace it and let it out full force.  Today is already one of those days.  Mike dreads those days because I will probably nitpick everything he does and give him a long to do list.  I see it as the pessimism pots gets a little more full each day and eventually has to boil over.
So why did it boil over today?  A couple of reasons (usually the case).  The first is our shower.  The glass door has a plastic piece along the bottom that seals the water in.  That piece began to break about the time Ayla was born and finally broke off the week that Mike left on a job out of the country for a month.  Why is this a big deal?  The water is now funneled through that broken spot straight onto the floor.  Giving a great place for mold to grow.  Did I mention I'm allergic to mold?  As in, have asthma attacks?  This should be simple to fix.  Just call the handyman and get it replaced.  Yeah, sure.   It took the handyman a week to find the piece.  Then three weeks of excuses before replacing it.  And because he was going off of the old part to measure he cut off the piece that blocks the water flow.  So now I have a new part that sticks, funnels water out of the shower and it only took about four weeks to come to this point.  Ugh!
My second reason happened last night.  Mike and I have been trying to have a weekly date night.  We did this before Ayla was born and just started again two weeks ago.  We thought it would be nice to have dinner out at Cheesecake Factory.  Currently I am on a dairy free diet because Ayla is horribly allergic and the only way we could control it was for her to breastfeed and me have no dairy at all.  (That's a story all on it's own that will be told at a later date.)  So we called ahead  to make sure they have some dairy free options.  We were told since each order is made individually they would simply make my dish without dairy.  When we got there we asked the waitress what items were dairy free and she also said to just pick something and it would be made without dairy.  Well, some of their food would just not taste the same without butter so I went with what seemed a safe choice, wasabi crusted ahi tuna with rice and stir fry veggies.  That would seem dairy free, right?  When my meal arrives it is the rice and veggies as promised with a unseasoned (not a single speck of even salt, pepper, nothing), seared tuna and no sauce.  So I asked the waitress what happened.  And she tells me, "They leave off the part that has dairy."  The wasabi crust and sauce have dairy?!  Well, that changes the dish just a little!  She was able to find me a red pepper sauce with no dairy but come on!  If the main part of the dish has dairy could we maybe mention that before I get a really bland meal?  The things we will sacrifice so our kids are healthy...
Ahhh, I feel better now that that's out :)
On a more fun note I did add more cute pictures to facebook.  Ayla is sitting up now and so pleased with herself :)

Just A Head Cold

Oh, the joy of having little kids. Last night I started feeling a little stuffed up. Today both Mike and I have a cold.  Nothing like passing everything around.
So, while I sit on the couch with Ayla I'll talk about our latest adventures.
Mikey started school a couple of weeks ago.  The first few days involved some crying at drop off but it quickly improved.  He loves going to see his friends and play with all the toys.  It's a montesorri school and we've been thrilled with his new skills and sense of independance.

Time For A Blog Revamp

As most of you have noticed, I'm not very good about making my blog posts. The main reason is it takes me a while to create a post with pictures in it. I'm not very computer savvy so I always have to redo my photos a few times to get the post to look right. So now I am just going to post links to my facebook page :) I'm always sending pictures to facebook from my phone and that way I can post here more often.
Jill's Facebook Page
Since it has been so long, let me introduce us again :) Here's our family:

Me (Jill)- I'm a 33 year old mother of 2 who needs someone to talk to besides a toddler and an infant. I realize the internet may not be much more responsive but I just don't have time for phone calls anymore. My alter ego is a small animal veterinarian. I'm working part time right now, doing mostly dentistry and surgery. I truly love my job and am so grateful I can work and still spend so much time with the kids right now.
I'm also frugal. Some might call me cheap but I still argue for frugal :) I coupon a lot and am always on the hunt for a good bargain. Here's a few of my favorite coupon sites. This is where I trade my coupons online Trading Post And this is where I find my grocery deals I Heart Publix
I'm sure there is more I will think to tell about myself but that's a good primer.

Mike (my husband)- He's a 38 year old cinematographer. That means he is a cameraman for movies, tv shows, commercials, music videos, etc. He has more energy than anyone else I know and can talk anyone into anything. I insist he does all the customer service phone calls because he can get us anything for free versus I get in screaming matches with the customer help people. Sugar is his nemesis. he loves it but it turns him into hyper squirrel mode. If any of you have seen "Over The Hedge" you know Hammie the Squirrel. We call it Hammie mode. He is very active and stays in great shape with his various activities. If you can think of an unusual sport he has probably competed in it and earned awards. There is no halfway with Mike :)

Mikey (my son)- He's a 2 year old with the vocabulary equal to many adults I know. You may be thinking, "Yeah, we all think our kids are gifted." but really the kid can talk. It's especially amusing since he is is a skinny little kid. Strangers are always amazed when he answers their questions. He has way more energy than I can keep up with most days. He loves pretending to cook (please let that continue), cars and dinosaurs. He can be incredibly stubborn but is so happy most of the time. Thankfully tantrums are rare but like most toddlers he can have bad days too.

Ayla (my daughter)- Born in July she is 5 months of willfulness behind a cute smile. Even in the hospital we knew she had a temper. When the nurse assigned to your baby the first day remarks about it, you know you're in trouble. But she doesn't hold a grudge. As soon as she gets her way she is all smiles and giggles. She is a cuddly, mama's girl, which I love 99% of the time. I just wish she would decide momma doesn't have to be holding her to sleep, sigh.

Tibo (the dog)- A 12 year old tibetan spaniel, Tibo still has way more energy than any dog should. Incredibly stubborn (I see a pattern here) and not too bright he makes life interesting. He is very happy and just wants everyone to shower him with love. His goofy face manages to win over nearly everyone.

That's us. Life can be boring or incredibly exciting and amusing depending on the day. Hope everyone enjoys reading my updates :)

Birthday and Lychees

Mikey just had his 2nd birthday on May 11th! We had lots of fun! We gave him a new wagon with all his other presents in it and a set of Cars balloons. He was really excited! He had cupcakes for his cake and a yummy chipotle dinner to finish off the day.

Today we harvested our first lychees. We put the tree in 3-4 years ago and I am so thrilled we have fruit this year! And boy do we! We got about 45 pounds of lychees!
Here's a picture of our crop.

Happy Holidays!

I know I've been really bad about updating lately but I have a really good excuse. We have been in California since October and just got back this week. So time to cover our entire trip.
We arrived just before my birthday so it was great to be able to get together with family. We had a barbeque with Mike's parents and brother. I didn't have to cook a thing which is the nicest birthday present I could have received! They also gave me a great shirt from one of my favorite stores :)
Halloween: We had great fun trick or treating in my in-laws neighborhood full of actors. These people put serious effort into decorating! Mikey loved the whole thing because it meant lots of people fawning all over him :)

Thanksgiving was also lots of fun with Mike's mom's family. We don't get to see these relatives very often so it is always a good time. I don't yet have photos from this event but should soon.
During our stay in California we tried to get in a lot of good outdoor adventure time since that is hard to do in the Miami heat. We went to the mountains to a nature center and a crazy nice playground. We also went to the beach. Mikey had lots of fun throwing rocks into the ocean and checking out the tide pools.

We also made time to go see Jon and the fam. We knew Mike wasn't going to be able to make the trip on his short weekends off so my mom flew in to visit and help with the car trip. It is a grueling 5-6 hour drive from Los Angeles to Sacremento and I don't recommend it. There is nothing to see for the entire drive. That being said it was worth it see Jon, Mary and the kids. None of them had met Mikey so that was great for everyone. Luckily Mary has a huge kitchen pantry so Mikey didn't need any other distractions :) He even started calling Jon "Dad" since that seems to be his name :) (Mike is Dada.) We wish we lived closer or all had more money so we could get together more often. It was far too short of a weekend.

Never A Bridesmaid... And Blackberry

So Mikey finally killed my dinosaur of a cell phone by dunking it in Tibo's water bowl. Since it was the $20 phone from 3 years ago I didn't really mind. We decided it was time for me to move into a bit more technology and join the rest of the world so I got the new Blackberry Torch. I love it! I'm still figuring out how to do some things but I can check email in seconds, look up anything on the internet, etc. And it has a great camera. Mikey got another haircut yesterday so I took a quick after picture :) Now if I can only figure out ringtone purchases...
Now it's time for my pity party ramblings. Very few people read this thing anymore so I'm not too worried. I came to a bitter realization this week. My last good friend eloped recently so it appears I will never be in a wedding other than my own. I have never even been asked to be in a wedding. Sadly, I am not exaggerating. My older brother eloped, younger brother never even mentioned it and no friends have ever asked me. I guess that shows how poorly I do with female friendships. I have not gone to a bridal shower or baby shower in 8 years. I did not have a bridal shower. My baby shower was thrown by girls at work (still incredibly grateful for that!). I just don't seem to get the workings of a female friendship very well. I do have a few friends but not people you just call to chat with or hang out with on a whim. I really do envy people that can do that but I don't seem to have that ability. I don't really understand... I would ask what I'm doing wrong but I don't know if I really want to know how I'm so bad at it. Constructive criticism is what I need :) Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Walking...

Mike posting for Jill. I got home from Atlanta and Jill and I decided to take Mikey to the mall. They have a kids play place there and while it sounds kind of ghetto, it's air conditioned and there are a bunch of other kids for Mikey to play with in a safe place we can keep an eye on him.

He's actually been walking a little bit since he was about 13 months old but he usually prefers to crawl. Today he must have wanted to look like a big kid because he was walking all over the place.

I only had my phone with me but it gets the job done in a pinch for some quick video.

Mikey's 1st Birthday

Today is Mikey's birthday! I can't believe he is 1 already! We have been having a great day and wanted to share it with all of you. This morning he went to his My Gym class which he loves. He really likes playing with all the toys, chasing other kids and practicing his gymnastics and climbing. After a good nap we opened his presents and he loved all of them. After a good play session he enjoyed a chocolate cupcake. He was still pretty full from lunch so only ate a small amount. Soon we are going to go get barbeque for dinner (yummmm, can't beat southern barbeque). It will be a perfect way to end the day as he likes flirting with all the waitresses when we are out. Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! Sorry, the pictures are in reverse order and I'm too lazy to fix it :)

More Mikey Pictures

Just because he's so cute :)

He's crawling up a storm and cruising along the furniture. We're just waiting for that first step.

He sticks out his tongue when he is thinking about something. Very cute :)

He is starting to feed himself (some gets in him, most goes to Tibo on the floor).

My other project has been to try to get a good picture for my new job's website. I like the first one but it's blurry and I just tend to be hard to please, and not photogenic. I really enjoy the new job- most of the time I'm a "doggy dentist". That's right, I pull dog's teeth for 10 hours straight and get paid very well to do it :) I enjoy the work and it's much less stress than emergency. I also enjoy working part time right now while Mikey is little and still not sleeping through the night.


Along the line of other random ramblings: Last night I tried my first traditional irish dish of corned beef and cabbage. Not only was it good but Mike said it was better than his mother's (smart husband). I think we will add that to our list of crock pot meals we enjoy.
We are excited about Easter next week. Mikey can't do too much for it yet but we got him a stuffed bunny for his easter basket and some colored plastic eggs. We are going to wait until next year for the easter egg hunt and such. What other stuff do all of you do with the smaller kids for easter?

California Pictures

My mother-in-law Jane just sent me these pictures from California (yes, we forgot our camera again).
On a much less fun note, Mikey has another cold (4th one). This time he ended up with a double ear infection (again) and bronchitis. The bronchitis means he gets nebulizer treatments three times a day. Have you ever tried to hold downa wiggly 9 month old for 10 minutes at a time? Not so easy. I try to distract him with kid's songs (he doesn't care that I sing poorly) but still a challenge. Hopefully, he will feel better soon.

Utah/California Trip

So, at the begining of the month we finally took a trip to Utah and California. To put this in prospective, we haven't been to Utah since our wedding in 2006 and California since 2005. It was about time we visited and introduced Mikey to all the family. Unfortunately, Mike had a job in Dallas at the same time as our trip so he flew back and forth twice and had a very broken up vacation.
In Utah we stayed with my parents (haven't done that since I graduated from vet school) and we had lots of fun! Mikey decided to be super clingy and screamed his head off any time I left the room but when I was present he was super happy and learned new things from everyone. My dad taught him to do this super cute, flirty head tilt. Not so cute during dinner but all the other times :) My mom taught him to kick a ball and now he constantly wants to walk over to balls and kick them. He is still walking on our fingers but barely.
We also got to see my childhood friend, Mary and her little boy. I haven't see her in years and enjoyed our short visit. We also met Jamie and her collection of kids. Anna and Bryton had a great time with Mike and Mikey. Austin wasn't sure about having a younger baby around but warmed up to Mike once he realized he threw balls and flung kids in the air. (How can you go wrong with that?) Mike and I went to a nice dinner at a new restaurant in town and my poor parents got to listen to Mikey scream for a couple of hours. We also got to see my grandparents and aunt and uncle.
In California we stayed with Mike's mom and stepdad. They have a nice guest room and a heated swimming pool :) The pool was enough to make Mikey very happy. Mike's brother, Grady, also finally met Mikey. He played the piano for him so that was pretty exciting. We went to see Mike's extended family at his aunt's house which was fun (and loud). They are all such great people :)
Overall, it was a great trip. I would have liked more sleep (story of the past 9 months) but everyone had a good time :)

Christmas!

I know I am really bad about posting. We got busy with work and Mikey and time snuck up on me. We had a great Christmas with Mike's stepmom Karen in central Florida. It's on a rural river so it is super relaxing and a much needed break from all our stress. Mikey got a few fun toys and we got a short vacation (present enough for us). As I'm sure is no surprise to anyone, Mikey is super active and constantly on the go. He loves to go places and wants to walk all over (still needs help with that from us). He is really working on crawling but gets mad when he can't get places fast enough. He has a walker that he loves and he runs after Tibo all over the house. Giggling all the way :)
As an update on the rest of us, I am no longer working at the emergency clinic. There was a whole variety of reasons for me quitting there but the most pressing was that it simply wasn't a happy place to work anymore. I'm going to be working part time at a regular family clinic after the holidays with occasional relief days for the humane society. Hopefully I will be back to full time in March but for now I am loving the extra time with Mikey and the break from the recent stress.
This next month (February), we are finally going to visit the family. We will be spending a few days in Logan and then a few days in Palm Springs. We are looking forward to meeting my sis-in-law Jamie and nephew Austin and introducing Mikey to everyone :)

Teeth!

I would love to get a picture of them but it's hard just to get a glimpe of them! In the past week Mikey has had two new teeth come in. They are the two bottom teeth and boy are they sharp! That kid loves to chew on everyone's fingers. We were hoping to go to a Halloween party on Friday night but Mikey got sick with an ear infection. I didn't realize they could actualy have goo pour out of their ears like dogs! Luckily he was already on the antibiotic before that started or I would really feel like a neglectful parent. Luckily he's such a happy kid that you can tell when something is bothering him pretty fast and get it dealt with. In the past 10 days he's had a stomach virus, two teeth and an ear infection. And when he doesn't have a fever he is still happy and giggling. I think he definitely got his daddy's happy, easy going personality. I'm much more of a grumbler. I'm sorry if all my blog entries are about Mikey but he and work are my life right now and since I can't really post some of the stuff happening at work (grumble, grumble) I stick with Mikey :) Oh! And as you can see from the picture I decided to go blonde again. It's been about 6 weeks so it's almost time for a touchup already.

Learning to crawl

Mikey is trying hard to learn to crawl. He hasn't had a ton of success yet but he's working on it. I can tell he's going to be as impatient as me (dad) because he gets so frustrated after about 2 minutes of trying.