Corn, State Fair & Alts Alts Alts!

That's what Indiana has!

Matt's Grandma Bocek passed away the day after his birthday :( She had Alzheimer's Disease and had recently been placed in a nursing home. We went to Indiana to be with family and celebrate her life.

We spent 7 days there (Bailey's first big trip out of state!) and Bailey got to meet her Great Grandma Alt (Mayme), her Great Uncle Joe, Aunt Pat, Aunt Abby, Uncle Barry, Aunt Jacque, and second cousins Anna, Maggie and Katherine. Needless to say she got LOTS of attention! She also got to visit with her Aunt Jenny who loves her to pieces! Although the reason for the trip was a sad one, it was very nice to get to be with family.

Bailey with Mayme (and her Bingo Buddies)



Mayme with three of her grandchildren (Jake, Matt & Jen) and her second Great Grandbaby!



Bailey with her Aunt Jenny (who ADORES her!)



You hear all about it- but until you taste it... you really have no idea. Indiana has the MOST AMAZING corn!!! It is delicious, even Bailey loved it. Although she loves just about everything.



Bailey had so much fun playing with her second cousins all week long. Their favorite thing to do was to put her in the middle of their air-bed and jump up and down to make her fly in the air. I had a mini-heart attack... but she loved it so much I couldn't make them stop! Luckily nobody got hurt... and Bailey smiled and laughed for hours at a time! And anything that can entertain my 8 month old for more than 5 minutes is worth it.

We even checked out the State Fair while we were there (yes the same fair that had the stage collapse at a Sugarland Concert 3 days after we were there.) It was just like every other fair- with lots and lots of roasted corn!


Believe it or not, the two girls on the outside are TWINS!!! Anna and Maggie :) Their younger sister Katherine is holding Bailey.

All in all Bailey did fairly well on the long drive to and from Indiana. On the way there- we drove overnight. I didn't sleep, but Bailey slept most of the way, only waking up a few times.

The way home was a little different. We bought a new car! (We actually bought Mayme's car since she can't drive it anymore.) So we had 2 cars to drive home... we decided to caravan with Matt's parents so we could all get home safe! 12 hours in the car alone with an 8 month old was NOT going to be possible for me!

Here's Bailey being goofy at one of the many stops on our way home.



Gimme that camera- I'm bored in the back!



It was a hard trip. Lots of running around and working with other people's schedules. But in the end, I'm very happy we went and got to spend lots of time with the Alts!

Park Play Date!

This summer has been SO HOT! It was reaching 105* during the afternoon- so a friend and I decided to have a Park Playdate at 9am! It was only about 95* so we managed!









I put her in a swing for the first time and she LOVED it!!


No idea who the random dude is... but the picture is too cute to leave out!



Once she started chewing on the swing it was time to be done :) Haha.
Staying home gave me lots more opportunities to take Bailey to do fun things, hopefully we'll be able to do more things when it cools down some. Thank goodness fall is on the way!

July

CRAWLING!!!!

Yes, you read that right. In July, Bailey started crawling. Happy 7 months Bean and Happy BabyProofing to Mommy!

Now that she is mobile- she and Betty are interacting more- this was the first crawl-by licking and we caught it on camera!



There were lots of other firsts in July: Bailey's first experience with the mesh teether (watermelon!).



Bailey's first pancake.



Not a first- but cute nap pictures are a must :)



This is the only shot we got on Bailey's first 4th of July! She wouldn't stop playing or sit still for long enough to get any cute pictures, imagine that!



Bailey's first bubble bath was a hit!



Bean talks to her froggie during each bath :)



There is nothing more precious than watching a baby sleep. She is such a funny sleeper!



Playing with her new piano...



First jog with Mommy )



Zillionth time in the pool :) But first ridiculous face made at the pool!



As you can tell- since becoming parents, all of our pictures revolve around Bailey. It just can't be helped. She so darn cute!! In July I started staying home. It has been absolutely wonderful. I love watching every first, every new thing she does... Matt is so happy to have a great job. We don't like his schedule (he's working nights- 9pm-5am), but we are counting our blessings!!

Another first in July- Matt and I went on our first DATE since Bailey was born!! We got a babysitter and went to dinner and a movie. It was wonderful to spend time with just Matt. :) And I only called the sitter ONCE! Be proud!

A JOB A JOB A JOB!!

As of July 08, 2011...

I, Elisabeth Lobel Alt will get to be a stay at home Mommy to this darling Princess:



Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen? I put her down at one end of her crib with the blanket on her back and Miss Snuggle Bug did this herself.

I love her so much, and I am so excited to be able to start spending all of my time with her! What a blessing it is, and I am so proud of my amazing hubby for persevering and making this happen for our family. We love you Daddy!

We knew the blessings would come :)

One Virus, A Double Ear Infection & No Sleep!

The night we brought Bailey home from the hospital was interesting. No matter how much you read, you are never quite prepared for the first night home alone. No magic nurse button... I missed the button. Matt is one of the lucky individuals who can sleep through almost anything. (The only thing I've seen wake him up is an earthquake, lol.) So around 2am when I am hormonal, sleep deprived and freaking out because the nurse at the hospital made us keep the lights on at night so we could 'make sure your baby didn't stop breathing' (how's THAT for freaking out a brand new mom?!)I decided to try what always worked for my mom, to sing Bailey to sleep. The exhausted and sore Mommy that I was could only think of one song- Silent Night. How's that for ironic, eh? So I sang it... about 800x until Bailey finally fell asleep around 3:30am. Why am I bringing up this story? Bailey's Christmas onesie finally fits... and it's all I can think of when I saw put her in it!!



Being a mom is scary. There I said it. It's not all rainbows and unicorns, and "Oh look at my cute baby!" All of the sudden there is a little person depending on you for everything. Food, love, diapers, etc. It is a daunting task. One that I love- but it is definitely intimidating.

One thing that made it a bit easier on us, was having a routine. After the first few days we managed to get her on an awesome schedule. Eating every three hours on the dot, then playing then sleeping. It was consistent. We were the lucky parents that brought home a newborn that slept through the night after about six days. Unheard of right? It was wonderful. Four month sleep regression hit, and we pushed through it. It stunk, but didn't last for long. Maybe 2 weeks. Then six months rolled around. Another sleep regression that lasted for about three weeks. I'm not gonna lie- it was rough. Especially with me working full time and getting up all night. 8 times a night Bailey? Was that really necessary?

We finally pushed through that sleep nightmare and made it to the other side! I had a wonderful sleeper again! THEN came the GERMS!!! Oh germs how I hate you. A mommy knows when something is wrong- Bailey stopped sleeping, was off of her schedule, she fussed a lot and, of all things, wouldn't eat. Bean has always been a champ when it comes to eating, especially solids- so that worried me. She would barely take two bites. Matt thought I was ridiculous- but off to the doctor we went. Nothing- not one problem the doctor could find.

That night, Bailey started running a 103 degree fever! We went in the next morning- who could look at this picture and not know that my poor girl was not feeling good?



A blood test, 8 catheter attempts (and one outraged Mommy) later, it was determined she had a virus. So we went home and waited it out. My poor girl was so sick. But we made it through- three days later her fever finally broke and my happy girl was back again. :)

Two weeks later, we had a double ear infection and no sleep again. I really hope Miss Bailey doesn't get her Mommy's immune system and catch everything out there. Only time will tell!

Father's Day

Somehow these are the only pictures we managed to take on Father's Day. And they're fuzzy... oh well. What can you do?





Bailey's grandparent's favorite thing to do is give her weird things to eat. Like rib bones to chew on, corn cobs to gnaw on, etc. It makes for an interesting mealtime.



Lack of photos or not- we had a fun Father's Day and enjoyed celebrating Matt's first year as a Daddy! We framed his diploma for him- just to tell him how PROUD of him we are!

Sleepy Girl

There is a moment in every mommy's life when you realize your baby really isn't a BABY anymore. It might be when they roll over for the first time, or when they say 'Mama' or 'Dada' for the first time. For me, it was this...



When it was truly time to move Bailey from her Bassinet into her crib, permanently. It was then that I realized that my sweet, squishy newborn was gone and I had an amazing little baby in her place. It took me a while to really realize that I needed to move her, I mean- look at this face!



And is there a cuter sleeper in the whole world?





I'm thinking 'no' on that one. :) She usually doesn't have that much stuff in her crib, just her seahorse and now a blankie. But she fell asleep with her lambie in her arms, so it went to bed with her that night!

Now, instead of rolling over to check on my sweet Bean, I have to get up and go into her room and check on her sleeping in her big girl crib. Wherever she sleeps, I am one lucky Mama!