Thursday, July 31, 2008

July 31, 2008 (Venily is 9 months, 2 weeks, 4 days old)

So, after much procrastinating, I decided to finally give Venily a bowl with cereal in it and a spoon to eat it all by herself! It was messy, but she did a lot better with it than I would have thought! I haven't given her ANY baby food in weeks and still have a bunch that she won't eat if I try to feed it to her, so I decided it was time for her to learn how to eat it herself. I wanted to do it a lot earlier, but didn't b/c I didn't want to have to deal with the mess! I want her to start learning how to use silverware, and you have to start somewhere!!! :)

Last night Venily was being SOOOO cute!!! We were watching "So You Think You Can Dance" (one of the only shows we EVER watch right now) and Venily was laying on the bed with us. Well, LL Cool J was rapping and Venily just bust out dancing so funny, HAHAHAHAHA!!!! And he would say "put your hands in the air" and Venily would start taking her hand and putting it up in the air, Jason and I were laughing so hard! She was dancing to all of the other songs too and would dance slower to the slow songs and crazier to the fast songs! HAHA, and of course, every time the audience would clap, little Venily would drop what she was doing as absolutely fast as she could so that she could clap too!! :)

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

July 30, 2008 (Venily is 9 months, 2 weeks, 3 days old)

Can't believe it's almost AUGUST already!!! The summer is going by WAY too fast.... yet our house is not coming along fast enough, haha! It's getting there though! We have a nice big hole in our yard and Jason is working on getting the footings and stuff up today, hopefully we'll be able to pour it tomorrow!!! Forms are coming on Friday, YAY!!!

Sunday we went to the Racine fair. It was a lot of fun! Venily didn't care for the demo too much... she's not one for sitting still. We made it through round one and that was it. Then later on she luckily fell asleep during it, haha! She ABSOLUTELY LOVED SEEING THE ANIMALS THOUGH!!!! OH MY!!! I was sure she'd start hyperventilating, she was getting so excited, lol! I'm surprised she didn't sprain her pointer finger either! :) She was pointing at every animal, and breathing heavy and going nuts! I love it! Maybe she'll be a vet some day since she loves animals so much! She also loved watching the bike trials guy. We had her stroller parked next to another little boy's stroller and we were watching the guy and then Jason and I looked down at her and she was holding hands with the boy, HAHAHAHA! Look out Landen and Bryant, Venily has a new boyfriend! :)

On Monday Venily got her 9 month pics taken (I'm not too happy with them though but oh well) and we also got cousin pics with Kaitlyn, Landen, and Bryant! HAHA! Trying to get 4 kids to cooperate at once was interesting, especially with 3 under 1! But we got a good pic of them, so it was worth it!

Yesterday I took Venily to the walk-in finally. She's had a diaper rash for a week, and it was the worst I've ever seen. She had diahrea and then got the rash. I had tried a bunch of stuff on it, but nothing was getting rid of it. So I took her in, and it turned out to be a yeast infection, YUCK!! The doctor gave her Nystalin, though, so it should clear up soon, it already looks a lot better! Venily had so much fun at the doctor's office though! Everyone... the receptionist, nurse, doctor, pharmacist, people walking by.... every one kept saying what a happy baby she was and how cute she was and how pretty her big, beautiful eyes are! :) LOL! She loved the nurse and didn't even mind getting her temp taking rectally (she even laid still for once!). When she was weighed she was 20 pounds even!! And the doctor just loved her too, though she wasn't too sure about him... he was kind of scary looking and had snake-eyes, lol. But he kept saying how beautiful and sweet she was and how he wanted to take her home with him, LOL!!! Sorry, she's my little beautiful sweetie pie and I'm not giving her up!!!! :)

Friday, July 25, 2008

July 25, 2008 (Venily is 9 months, 1 week, 5 days old)

Made a couple of updates to the front page! Venily's growth charts, words she knows (she's been learning more and more each day!), and the kids' pictures (poor little Bryant was still a fetus, lol!). I'm hoping to do some more updates when I get a chance, but Venily hasn't been liking that idea so I have to do only a little at a time!

Venily's doctor appointment last week went good! She weighed in at 19lbs, 9 oz. And I measured her myself and she was 29.25in (they didn't measure her good at all!). :) She is healthy and growing right on schedule and the doctor said that she had a really great disposition. She didn't even cry (first time ever) and she didn't need any shots, so that's always good. I'm looking into finding her a pediatrician though. I'm hoping to do that next week! Her doctor now is just a general doctor and I'd really prefer a pediatritian.

We've decided that Venily's first birthday party will be Sunday, October 12, 2008 at our NEW house!!!! The foundation is getting started tomorrow finally and then we should have the house in order for a party, though probably not completely finished. The drywall/etc. in the living room/ dining room/loft area needs to AT LEAST be done before we can move in, so we're praying that all goes smoothly. Though the deck, basement, backyard, etc. will probably not be done in time for the party, that's okay!

Venily is STILL not sleeping well! My gosh it was a difficult last 2 weeks. She has been getting up like every 1-2 hours during the night! I'm hoping it's teething. Last night was a little better, only got up twice!! Went to bed at 9pm, then got up at 1:30 (for an hour, she was so happy and crawling all over us and just full of energy, lol- I think it's b/c her batteries were half-charged!) and then again at 5ish and finally woke up at 6:30. HAHA, I don't want another baby until she sleeps through the night!!!

Venily is a little point-a-holic!!!! She points at EVERYTHING, all day long. Now, though, there is a lot of meaning behind her points. She points at things she wants or places she wants to go. And if we ask her where something or someone is, she points at them too!

She is standing a lot more too. She'll pull herself up on things and then let go for a few seconds and then grab back on or sit down.... she is actually doing it right now on the chair that I am sitting on. I got a picture of her doing it outside naked, lol, it's really funny!

She's doing GREAT with her sippy cup w/ stopper, so looks like we're going to skip bottles all together (one less thing to worry about!). She LOVES juice but the doctor wants me to wait until she is a year to give her milk. And I'm too busy during the day to pump and try that in her sippy cup, so she is still nursing.

Other than that, we're just hanging out. Playing with lots of toys, reading books (Venily just LOVES books right now), playing outside, going swimming when we get a chance, and just enjoying the summer!!! Venily is in CONSTANT motion and hardly slows down for a second though!!! We're hoping to go to the fair on Sunday, I know Venily will ABSOLUTELY have an awesome time! :)

I have a TON of new videos to put up, but no time to do it. Will let you know when I get them up also some new pictures! Okay, time for lunch!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 9:51 AM

Current mood: excited
Category: Life
Is right around the corner... just 82 more days to go, lol!! I can't believe it! I've been excited about it since she was like 3 months old, haha!

Anyway, we have a date set! Sunday, October 12th!! Mark your calendars. I had to set a date so my mom could make sure and request off! It will be at our NEW house, so hopefully everything is ready to go by then (oh my gosh, it better be!). Jason promised it would be in party-order, but I don't know what he meant by that... HAHA, right now our house is still a pile of sand w/ 3 foot high weeds and 97 cats roaming around (we live next door to a crazy cat lady!). AHHHH! Supposedly we're starting on our foundation this weekend though, but I've heard that one before. I'll believe it when I see it!

I am debating between two party theme ideas for my little girl! Barnyard animals and Butterflies (her room theme).... lol, something tells me I won't be able to resist the girly stuff! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Monday, July 14, 2008

July 14, 2008 (Venily is 9 months, 1 day old)

Had another BUSY summer weekend!!

On Friday we got Venily's 8 month pictures taken (just in time, lol). We got them done at the Sears in Kenosha b/c we couldn't get an appointment at JCPenney's last minute. We LOVED it there! So much nicer than the Sears in Racine and the woman was so cute and Venily really liked her! We might go there more often now, I put her pictures up on here the other day, they turned out so much cuter than the last time we went to Sears! Then we went to IHOP and ate where we had a HUGE scare with Venily. She was eating peaches in her stroller and started choking really bad (she gags and chokes all the time, but never this bad). Jason saw her and told me and I quick just jammed my finger down her throat and scooped them out (which I've done before). Jason was SOOOO shooken up, I felt bad. He kept saying that he didn't know what to do and if I hadn't done that he doesn't know what would have happened. He says if it ever happens again, we have to switch her to an all liquid diet, lol! It was scary, but it happens! After that we went miniture golfing at Congo River!

On Saturday we drove out to Lockport for Joe and Megan's reception. It was a lot of fun! They have a daughter, Alana, who is 13 months, and just so cute and we got to see her for the first time. Alana is the exact same size as Venily (she was born 3 months early) and even looks similar to her so people kept saying they looked like twins, lol. She is a LOT more shy than Venily though, so she didn't want to play with her. :( But Venily had fun anyway watching some of the older kids playing and meeting a lot of her family that she doesn't know well.

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Then on Sunday we went to Kaitlyn's 4th birthday party at the Aquatic Center!! HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY KAITLYN!!! Thanks for inviting us, we had a lot of fun! Venily just LOVES the water. Jason and I have even considered putting up a pool in our new back yard, lol, but it's so small that's ALL that would be there!

Venily also turned 9 months yesterday!!!! 3/4 of a year!!! I can't think about it too much or I start to cry! I can't believe that she came into our lives 9 months ago! And she's learned and grown and changed so much over the last 9 months! I didn't get a chance to measure her yesterday, but when I weighed her she is still at 20 pounds.... that makes her at 20 pounds for the last 3 months straight! But I can believe it, for how active she is, I'm surprised she hasn't lost weight. We go for her 9 month check-up on Thursday so I'll write up her new stats then!

Let's see.... some new things that she does at 9 months that I haven't already written... she can roll a ball back and forth to me now! She's actually really good at it! She'll do it for like 20 minutes straight with me some times. She's also getting really good at following directions. Her baby will be sitting next to her and I'll say "give your baby a kiss" and she'll pick her up and give her a great big open mouth kiss, lol (the same that she gives us- they're THE BEST!!). She can climb steps and over cushions, opens the screen door, opens cupboards and drawers... hahaha, pretty much anything that is naughty and makes it harder for me to watch her all day. She also is doing AWESOME with her "b" words! She loves to say "ball", "bird", "bang", "block", etc.... or if she doesn't know what something is, she'll usually just say "ba" haha!

At 9 Months...

Venily's LIKES:
* Spontaneously clapping her hands!! HAHA! She must do it a MILLION times a day lately! She does it for EVERYTHING! We were watching a show and every time the audience would applaud, she'd start clapping too. And sometimes she'll be nursing and then stop to clap, go back to nursing, stop to clap again and go back to nursing..haha. It's definitely her current favorite "trick" and her Daddy's favorite too!
*Her favorite toys- strings, balls, wooden blocks, her baby
*Kaitlyn and all kids and animals that move!
*swimming
*getting tickled!!!! All I have to do is say "I'm going to get you" and she breaks out into hysterics!
*giving kisses (though she only likes giving them to Daddy when he is all shaven up!)
*crawling around crazy and standing, especially at the window to watch the birds
*books!! She loves when I point to stuff in them and tell her what they are!



Venily DISLIKES:
* Sleeping- why sleep when you can play?
*Getting her diaper changed (she's got WAY more important things to do!)
*Not being able to crawl around and get into trouble (it makes long car rides and shopping trips difficult at times)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

July 10, 2008 (Venily is 8 months, 3 weeks, 6 days old)

We had a GREAT wedding anniversary on the 8th! It's so hard to believe we've been married for over 2 years now! Jason just happened to get rained out at work that day so we went up to Fremont for the day. Jason used to go there every summer when he was younger and we went there one other time.... almost exactly 7 years ago (like a week after we started dating). It was fun! Venily was a little crab-cake on the long ride up there but slept the whole way back, so that was good. Bryant came too and was a little angel, sleeping the ENTIRE time... I miss those easy days! Venily also got to see her 2nd cousin Alex again (the 1st time she saw him she was only a day old, lol). He's only 4.5 months older than her and BOY did she like him! She was SERIOUSLY trying to make out with him, lol. She kept opening her mouth really big and coming at him and he didn't know what she was doing so he kept sticking his fingers in her mouth, lol!

Monday, July 7, 2008

Monday, July 07, 2008 7:42 PM

Current mood: romantic
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Today is our SEVEN year anniversary of when we first started dating and tomorrow is already our TWO year wedding anniversary!! WOW!! To think.... it all started 7 years ago today.... hanging out at Mike's house and going in his hot tub and talking forever.... and then we both went home and he called me right away and told me how much he liked me and how he wanted to be with me.... hahaha, who would have known!! I still get all giddy just thinking about it, lol!

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Highlights of the last 7 years...
*We started dating (July 7, 2001)
*We went to lots of high school dances together
*I would get in trouble if I fell asleep at his house and came home early in the morning...lol
*I graduated high school (June 2002)
*We drove to Colorado, flew back, flew to Colorado, and drove back all in 2 weeks time, lol. (summer 2002)
*I spent 2 years in the dorms (2002, 2003)
*We got our first apartment together in Whitewater (2004/2005)
*Jason proposed on Christmas morning, 2004
*We got our second apartment together in Whitewater (2005)
*We drove out to New York City and back just to see my favorite band
*We bought and lived in our duplex in Burlington (2005-2008)
*I student taught and graduated from college (2006)
*WE GOT MARRIED!!!!! (July 8, 2006)
*We spent 6 months trying for a baby to complete our family
*WE GOT PREGNANT!!!! (January 2007)
*We went on our honeymoon- a 7 night cruise to the Caribbean Islands! (February 2007)
*We had our daughter, Venily Autumn!!!!! (October 13, 2007)
*We bought a lot in Lily Lake and our building our own home! (2008)

We've been through and accomplished so much in 7 years!! And I love him more and more each day!! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JASON!!! Things just keep getting better and better!

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July 7, 2008 (Venily is 8 months, 3 weeks, 3 days old)

Venily did her first sign yesterday (other than waving)!!!! She signed "eat" and she has been doing it again today!

Today is our SEVEN year anniversary of when we first started dating and tomorrow is our TWO year wedding anniversary!! Happy Anniversary Jason, I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!!! I can't believe how long it's been already!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

July 5, 2008 (Venily is 8 months, 3 weeks, 1 day old)

100 days left until Venily's 1st BIRTHDAY!!!! Oh MY!

We had a GREAT 4th of July weekend. Very busy! Venily had lots of fun watching the parades, being in a parade, seeing her family, going to a party, and watching fireworks (though they were past her bedtime and it showed)!! Will put up pics when I get a chance.

Friday, July 4, 2008

July 4, 2008 (Venily is 8 months, 3 weeks old)

HAPPY 4th of JULY everyone AND happy 1st Fourth of July to Venily, Landen, & Bryant!!!!!

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Thursday, July 3, 2008

July 3, 2008 (Venily is 8 months, 2 weeks, 6 days old)

Venily updates:

I STILL haven't gotten Venily's 8 month pictures taken!! Ahhh! I only have 10 more days and then she'll be 9 months! I need to go soon and we are SOOO busy, I don't know if it will happen!

I am always amazed at how much Venily understands me! She knows what I'm saying and it's so nice to know that- she's so smart! She doesn't always listen when I tell her not to do something (actually she usually laughs and tries to do it as fast as she can before I can stop her) but it's nice to be understood by the one person I talk to ALL day long! :) I can't even explain how happy it makes me!

She dances now!!! It's so funny she starts dancing when she moves a toy and it plays music! Tooooo cute!

Venily has been sleeping HORRIBLY lately! She naps fine. Still 3 a day, and for a decent amount of time (I tried getting it to 2, but she just wasn't having that!). But at night, she has THE WORST sleeping habits ever! First of all.... I can't put her down awake. I also usually have to feed her to sleep or bounce her on my lap until she falls asleep. Then she'll sleep for like 30min to an hour and wake up again. And when she wakes up, she stands up in her crib and gets progressively louder, demanding that she be picked up, lol! She does this like 5 times before she finally falls to real sleep. THEN....she wakes up in the night and as soon as I pick her back up, she falls asleep but when I go to put her back down, she wakes up again!! Ahhh! I would LOVE to just let her "cry it out" but we have people sleeping right above us and Jason has to get up early for work and also strongly disapproves of letting her cry! It's driving me crazy! Some nights I refuse to feed her in the middle of the night (which is what I read that I'm supposed to do) but other nights I'm so tired, I just do it anyway! I don't like carrying her around in the middle of the night, b/c I'm so tired, I'm afraid that I'll drop her. She ends up sleeping with us most nights as well. I'm hoping that when we move into our new house I'll be able to get a better handle on the whole "sleep training" thing! I miss my baby who used to sleep through the night EVERY night! Where did she go? HA! AND, she now wakes up at 6:00am every morning and NOTHING I do will get her back to sleep! She NEVER used to get up that early. It was always 7:30-8:00 when she'd wake up! She still wakes up soooo happy though, but I wish she'd sleep a little better and a little longer!

She cruises so good now, I know that she will definitely be walking at 10 months! She cruises all along the table, couchs, chairs... and can go from the table to the couch, no problem! Sometimes she even lets go while she's doing it! She also walks really good with her rolling lion. She got her first major bump yesterday though! She was standing at the coffee table and fell and I heard a hard bump and knew it couldn't have been good. She cried a little bit and I picked her up and she was fine. A little while later though, I looked at her head and there was a HUGE bump and bruise on her forehead. :( Didn't seem to bother her though... I tried to put frozen vegetables on it, lol, but she just wanted to play with them.

Venily likes to splash in the tub now. It's funny! :)

She's starting to learn to "share" things!!! We always try to get her to feed us food or give us a toy and usually she only teases us with it, haha! Like she'll be holding onto a Cheerio and I'll open up my mouth and tell her I'm hungry and I want that Cheerio and she'll smile and start putting her hand close to my mouth but before I can eat it, she'll pull her hand back really fast and put it in HER mouth! HAHA! OR we'll tell her to give us a piece of food that she's eating and she'll REALLY QUICKLY start shoving them ALL into her mouth so we can't have them, LOL! But recently she'll give us a toy if we ask for it and then we'll give it back to her and ask for it again and she'll give it back... etc., etc., so that's good!

She's such a little flirt! She loves seeing people and she loves smiling and then gets shy when someone smiles and talks back to her. It's too cute!

Venily pretty much eats ALL real food now!! Some entire days go by and I won't give her any baby food (I hate having to force her to eat it when she doesn't want it!). She eats (broken up into small bites).... spaghetti w/ sauce, veggie dogs, mashed potatoes, chunks of fruit, sandwiches, macoronni and cheese, green beans, waffles, yogurt, quesadillas.... pretty much anything that I eat, I'll let her eat! And she LOVES it! And it's not as expensive. I can buy a bag of frozen squares of organic squash for less than the same amount of organic baby food squash. So that's nice... but I won't let her eat anything bad for her.... like anything chocolatey, sugary, or salty (though Daddy likes to try and sneak some to her).

We have a lot of parades and parties and things to go to this weekend for the 4th of July!!! I'm really hoping that Venily likes the fireworks! She LOVES seeing them on the computer screen and I know she'd really like seeing them but yesterday she was getting a little worried about the thunder (she had a very concerned look on her face every time she heard it) so I'm hoping the noise of them doesn't scare her!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

July 2, 2008 (Venily is 8 months, 2 weeks, 5 days old)

WELCOME BABY BRYANT RALPH!!!! Bryant was born at 6:28 this morning at 6lbs, 1oz and 20.25 inches long!!! We're so happy to have our newest nephew here at last! Mommy and baby are doing great! He's soooo cute and tiny and looks JUST like his Daddy! Congrats Kayla and Jim!!


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