Project list

- Voodoo shrunken heads, I know, super important and necessary
- Clear album for 6 months of Miley photos, or baby emotions book. . .? Can't decide.
- Family Scrapbook. . . just finished my birthday page, ugh, way behind
- Artist Trading Card stand full of Miley photos, for display on bar
- Spooky Halloween album for our awesome yearly pics
- Baby Miley album. . . I ordered 169 prints today in an effort to jump start this project

My list is getting away from me, and in an attempt to catch up I opened up a bit too much this week. I get to work in snippets with little bug and so I start a lot of things but don't seem to wrap them up as quickly. I guess it's the ADD in me that needs something new to work on, so here we are. . . a table full of mess.

Add that to the list, project number 131, CLEAN UP.

So far so good

I don't want to jinx it, but so far so good on this new formula! We've finally got a glimpse of our happy baby back. She's taking better naps and overall just more content. Oh how I've missed that little smile!

The doc said that the badness should reach it's peak by the 7th week and here we are. . . finally. We've survived and are looking forward to less painful wind from now on. Hopefully the doc was right, that is.

The new struggle is baby acne. . . poor sad little face. I'm following the 'wash it with water a few times a day' plan and laundry is done with the baby detergent, but here we are battling pre-puberty. Of course she doesn't seem to mind, but it hurts me to see probably because I have a different experience with pimples, ugh.

Which brings me to my second dilemma, should I leave it in her photos. I clear up her face of pimples, red marks, and scratches. . . am I changing history here and depriving her of the truth? Hmmm. I don't know. I like pretty pictures, not that she isn't pretty all marked up. Ok, she's not that marked up anyway. A little editing never hurts. It's a must for any photo I'm in. Ooh, maybe that will hurt her self-image. Oh the mother guilt is setting in now. ;)

Moving on. Speaking of moving, Miley went on her first outing in her stroller this weekend and loved it. It doesn't put her to sleep, she's way too curious for that. The weather has been delightful in the evenings and so we are soaking it up now. She loves to look at the sky and the trees, the whole time with her 'oh' face on. . . though I'm pretty sure that Miley wanted a better view than that of the stroller position she was confined to.

The dogs didn't even mind the stroller. Total miracle. They usually freak out around things with wheels like that. I'm taking this as a good sign that they've accepted Miley and her necessary mode of transportation. Nilla did give her an accepting lick on the top of the head the other day, so she's now officially part of our pack.

So, I love this little blue dress. . . . Yes, I know Tawni, you're disappointed that there is only a trace of pink. . . and I guess you're not the only one because we got our first 'is your baby a girl?' comment last Sunday. Sad. Check the bow in her hair, lady! And it's still a dress. What's with the sexism of the color blue? Totally disappointed. Well the offending woman was wearing glasses and was more than a foot away so I'm going to chalk to up to focusing issues.

I'm sure it will happen again, I guess I'll just have to get used to it. . . or start bathing her in pink. I don't know if I could bear that. If it comes down to it, Tawni, I'll send her your way.

Come on the dress is cute! And there is a little pink in the design. . . Maybe bigger bows? ;)

Be prepared

We're getting ready for my favorite time of year!

You know you have a problem when you spend your Birthday and Christmas gift cards on Halloween decorations, right?

New fave

I seem to have a new favorite photo every week, but that's how it is. . . and this is the most recent fave. . .
in it's raw beauty, I haven't even messed with it, which is unusual for me. . .

And here's a couple more from the series. . .

a purpose

“We write to taste life twice. Once in the moment, and once in retrospection.”
~Anais Nin

A few weeks of fighting the wind has left me a little tired and more than a little frustrated. Poor baby girl, but there is light ahead I think. Trying different things to give her peace. . . it's getting better. . . and time helps too.

Through the frustration and exhaustion there are smatterings of smiles and giggles and thinking of those moments and looking forward to the next one somehow makes it all survivable.

Miley is such a doll and a really good baby, though I'm not supposed to say that (I learned that from the Baby Wise Nazis). I should be taking credit for her successes because of my fabulous training skills. Yeah right. The book did have it's good points which I will say has brought me two whole nights of peace so far.

Seven and a half hours of sleep is my new favorite thing! Can I make a wish suggestion to anyone who is blowing out birthday candles or sees a shooting star in the near future. . . It's appreciated! Thank you Baby Wise crazies for your help too, I'm pretty sure they're Nazis, but I probably shouldn't reference them that way. ;)

The second taste seems to help make sense of the first. Does that make sense? Well that's what blogging does for me. It's a nice outlet and I just can't get enough of it. In fact, I should be using my precious nap time minutes to shower and yet I'm here. . . oh well. And then of course there are all of you who provide perspective, insight, thoughts, well wishes, and a few insults. I can't wait to read them all. ;)

Belated, but only slightly

Happy Birthday Little Brother!
yesterday. . . that is.

I did want to sell you when you were a baby, but luckily for you mom wouldn't let me. . . and I guess it worked out for the best that way. ;)

Why am I always carrying you guys around in these pics? You're so lucky you have an older sis like me as a chauffeur. Actually, this went on after I got my license too. Dang lucky!

I have no idea why we're dressed like this, but you do make a cute cowboy.

One of the stellar photos of us, just thought I'd share. . . look how happy we are. . .

Compared to this one where you're practicing your stoic face. Very impressive.

And this one I thought I'd add to highlight your fabulous modeling abilities. I contemplated putting your 'tired face' photo on here too, but thought better of it. Lucky, again. ;)
Looking handsome.

And being a good uncle too.

I hope your birthday was a good one! We love you and your red hair! Pres. Monson was right, it does make you stand out. . . and in a good way!

too much responsibility and a question

Since Miley is a month now I thought she had matured enough to have her hands back. . . at night.

During the day she is fine at not scratching her face, even during naps, but at night I still wrap them up to keep those little nails hidden. They grow so fast.

Well we tried it and when I saw her darling face in the morning it had a huge scratch across her nose. Ow! Too much responsibility for a four week old. Back to mittens, sorry bug.

I brought her into the bedroom to show Dave what she had done and he kissed her and talked to her for awhile. I just stared at him, waiting. . . until finally he asked her what she had done to her nose. It was no little scratch, and it took him that long to notice it. What in the world are men looking at? How do they see I wonder?

So I'm pondering this, thinking how slow he must be, or possibly blind and then it hits me, maybe he's not seeing wrong. . . maybe it's me. Do men see the big picture and women focus in on all the little flaws?

Yes, Miley is beautiful, but I only saw her nose and fretted about that, while Dave looked at her and complimented her pretty face.

Totally weird. I can't wrap my head around it. Not that someone has to be right and someone has to be wrong here. . . we're just so different. I guess that makes life interesting.

One Month

Baby girl is one month old! She is now 8 lbs. 6 oz. and 21 inches long. . . petite little thing. She's almost the size I was when I was born.

Bug is little but healthy, and a good eater! I can't believe she already doesn't fit into some of her clothes. . . not many, but there are some things that are a little snug.

. . .Some things about bug at one month. . .

She still has all of her dark brown hair, it hasn't changed to blonde yet like we think it might.

She loves her bath time. She kicks and squirms and then relaxes and enjoys it when I wash her hair. She is less than thrilled to get out of the bath however.

She recognizes my voice and calms down when I talk to her.

She loves morning kisses and will giggle. Dave's pokey face tickles her too.

She dislikes tummy time, but is coming around to it slowly.

She can drain 4 ounces of formula in 17 minutes. . . her record so far.

She loves looking out the window, just like my other girls, the pooches.

She is a binky girl!

. . .Here are some random shots of our ever growing bug. . .

One month Chunky Monkey shots. . . she looks so big to me!

Her Sunday dress. Doesn't she look so thrilled about it.

Have I reached your threshold for all things Miley yet? I just can't get enough of these photos. She's soooo cute. And it's my blog, so stay tuned for a lot more I'm sure.

What I love Thursday. . .

The many faces of our Miley bug!

Too much attention

I was taking pictures of the bug the other day while she was in a good mood relaxing on the floor, when suddenly all I could see through my lens was a white furry butt. . . and felt it too actually because it ran into the camera lens and thusly into my face. . .

Nilla (just in case you thought it was Dave or the abominable snowman, ha) parked herself right there in between Miley and the camera and there wasn't that much room to begin with. . . butt facing me. I think that fact in particular was significant.

I took that picture since she had impeccable timing, but because of the shear number of photos I take now, I efficiently deleted it. Oops. Too bad, it would have been funny. Or the photo of me picking the dog hairs off my lens. . . Oh well.

Mocha needed to get involved too, this one I kept. Poor Nilla. I guess she's right, she needs more attention.