Free Dog!

So today has been the day of all days.  To start, the mail isn't being delivered because of this hellacious snow storm (or should I say storms) and I'm waiting on a fun package to get here! 

Also,  KK and I drove over to my parents' house today to borrow their snow blower while they are vacationing in Cozumel (jerks) and on the way, some dude blew a stop sign perpendicular to the way we were traveling, causing Kris to swerve our truck to miss him, and landed us high centered from the left side in a giant snow bank (thank God it was there)!  I have never seen my husband so pissed off- I was so nervous he was going to kick the guys a$$ for doing that (he was lighting a cigarette and missed the sign, apparently).  Thankfully, we were all OK- but seriously, by husband was screaming terrible things at the guy, mostly about almost hurting our baby girl, that I have never heard him say before- and my husband is NOT a fighter by any means.  So anyway, KK made the guy dig us out, with the help of some nice young guys that drove by, and thankfully the truck was fine- we went to my parents' and came home.

But oohhhhhh nooooooooooooooooo, that's not where this story ends.  Background story: we have to lock our dog, Jack, in the spare bedroom upstairs when we go anywhere. Jack has a problem being contained, but when he is out in the house, he for some reason finds it necessary to lift his leg on the walls- something he never did before Ali was born.  We have tried to lock him in his kennel- he ripped the door off- leave him in the garage and he pees/poops everywhere- and the backyard is out because we aren't fenced in yet on all 4 sides.... so we've been locking him in the guest room.  

So we get home this afternoon and KK goes up to the let dogs out, and starts repeating "oh no, oh no" and I go upstairs to find that Jack has RIPPED UP about a 5 x5 foot radius of carpet from under the door jam back.  He has also broken the bottom of the door trying to dig out from underneath it.  There is also blood everywhere from him ripping one of his nails off trying to dig out.  

Seriously, I am not a violent person, but my elbow hurts from spanking that dog.  I have never been so mad in my life- I cannot believe he did that to our house.  And we are not rich people, so here comes an unexpected expense we have to save up for.  

KK thinks he will be able to just by a portion of carpet and pad and blend it back in to what we can salvage- and the door will just have to wait- but if we didn't love that dog so much he would be out in a field somewhere left for survival.  (I think we've figured out why his first owners left him to run free in a state park!)

So anyway, that is a little taste of the wonderful day we've had.  And to top it all off, my daughter has decided not to take her afternoon nap, so I'm off to rock the precious princess.  At least looking at her angel-face makes me take a deep breath and realize what really matters and be so thankful we are safe and sound!

I wanna win this!!!!

YOU could win a KEURING PLANTINUM BREWING SYSTEM and... $50 worth of K cups!!!  

I totally wanna to win this to bring to school and set up in my classroom!  Wouldn't that be awesome!? I could have a cup o' heaven while teaching all my little lovlies- it would make my teaching day so much more enjoyable!  

Whew! 1st Christmas down!

Well the Baby's first Christmas went over without a hitch.... she of course got way too many presents for a 4-month-old... my mom discovered the Leap Frog website, so at least we got some age-appropriate, "learning" toys :)

And my mother-in-law was actually very pleasant and thoughtful this year: she gave Ali her  baby ring from when she was little- I'm not much for sentiments- but it was a very sweet gesture and I think it meant a lot to pass it down to her.  

She also gave me some cute clothes- which I was totally surprised at... but she bought me size XL!!! I usually wear a medium to a large- NEVER an XL, not even when I was pregnant!  I asked Kris if she thinks I'm fat- and he said she probably has no idea- but I still took it a little personal... I also noticed that she wrote "love, mom" or love, grandma" on all of Kris and Ali's presents, but just wrote "linda" on mine.  Maybe I'm reading into it a little bit but I swear that woman wishes she was KK's wife and Ali's mom- I'm just a mindless diversion she has to deal with or something...BUT ANYWAY- (I'm working on letting things go with her, so I don't drive myself crazy..so I'll stop talking about it now)  

My parents bought KK and I a camcorder- which I am so excited about!  I've been taping Ali's cuteness on my camera- which only allows for 2 minutes of recording.  The camcorder is one that records to a photo chip card thingy, so it will be easy to edit and download to share with family and friends- I can't wait to use it! 

Oh yeah- and the best part of Christmas... KK did 3 loads of laundry, and folded them!  I couldn't believe it!!! Man, that guy knows how to turn me on :-)=

We also started the Ferber Method with Ali last night- and it actually went pretty well, and it made me feel so happy and liberated as a parent.  Every night it takes Ali about 15-20 minutes of crying and whining to fall asleep- with KK or I holding her and rocking her and walking around the house.  She drops her binkie about 5 bazillion times during the process, and both Kris and I were getting so sick of the routine.  So last night I researched how to lovingly let our child soothe herself to sleep.  I put her to bed at 7:50, went in at 4 minutes the first time and stroked her head. I then waited 6 minutes the 2nd time and went in again. The next time I waited until 10 minutes had passed, and that was the last time I had to go in and tell her I was there- she then fell asleep, in her crib, on her own, without KK or I soothing her!  When she was crying in there it never got intense, and every time I went in I checked her eyes for tear drops (whaddya know, not a one fell!).  I did the same thing when she woke up at 3 this morning- didn't pick her up, but put the binker back in her mouth and stroked her head... that time it only took two times of me going in!

 So I think our stubborn betty is figuring out how to put herself to sleep= I layed her down for a nap this morning and she fussed for a few seconds and went out!  I'm sooo happy and I hope she keeps it up tonight- it is so much easier for the whole family and it feels good to have a method KK and I can agree on and work together with.  I think we will all be improving our sleeping habits in a few shorts days- and teaching Ali the life long skill of soothing herself to sleep :)

4 month checkup

We took Bug a Boos to her 4 month well check today, here are her stats:

Height: 25 inches (75th percentile)

Weight: 15 lbs 13 oz (90th percentile!)

Head Circumference: 40 inches (50th percentile)

We were so happy to see her head grow so much (she was in the 14th percentile at 2 months)!  She is getting so big- and the doctor said she was happy about her height to weight ratio- our little chunk a monker!

She also did pretty good with her 2nd round of shots- of course we had a big ba-ba ready and waiting :)

The doctor also confirmed that I was making the right choice by putting Ali on rice cereal- she said "if the girl's hungry, feed her!" She said to wait until next month to start in some baby food- I can't wait to watch Ali try some new foods!  She also  suggested pear juice for the poor baby's constipation- so tomorrow morning I will hit the store first thing.  We can tell she is straining so hard to poopie- that must hurt her little bootie so bad!

Now we are just settlin in and relaxin:  tomorrow my parents and brother are coming over for chili and to open up some presents- and I plan to go to the 9:00 Christmas Eve service ( I can't wait!).  On Christmas we are supposed to go over to KK's grandparents, weather permitting... but I'm kind of hoping we get snowed in and can have a nice, relaxing Christmas as just US!

Hope everyone is all ready for the madness to begin- Ali has so many presents already from just my parents- that girl could be the most spoiled 4 month old child yet!

Christmas Presents!!

Look at the awesome Christmas present we got from KK's dad!

I'm so excited to hook it up to our bikes and use it! (with all this snow, it'll be awhile, but it's still awesome!!!!!!!)   It also converts to a jogger stroller, which while I won't probably be doing much actual joggin behind it, I'm sure it will be better to push around then the graco stroller we are using now!

My mom also let Ali (me) open one of her Christmas presents early, in light of all the snow:

It's the cutest little sled we've ever seen!  Ali is going to look so cute stuffed in her snowsuit riding around in it...Unfortunately it is 10 degrees today- so a little too cold to bring sweet baby girl outside- but you can bet your sweet butt we will have her in it and draggin her around as soon as the weather allows!

And the last fun present was sent by my bestest friend, Rose.  

Look it how cute Ali is with her new buddy!

Let in SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!

our back yard

You cannot believe the amount of snow we've gotten up here in North Idaho- it's amazing! My husband was walking around in our backyard (to create a path for our wussy dogs) and it was up to his waist- I swear!  It's the most snow I've seen in my lifetime- and I've lived here for my entire life.  

We spent 2 hours this morning on our driveway(like we'll drive anywhere).  And the weirdest thing happened- we let the dogs out the back door, and there was a little black duck hiding under our bbq.  We live about 6 miles from the nearest body of water, so it must have gotten lost in the blizzard.  Poor duckie, didn't have a chance with our 2 bird dogs :(  KK had to put it out of it's misery after Jack and Matty each took a turn retrieving it.... the cycle of life I guess! (I'm just thankful Missy Pants isn't old enough to know the difference- that coulda been ugly).

The news is saying we could get up to 14 more inches by 4:00 this afternoon.... so needless to say, no school today and hopefully not tomorrow- Christmas Break started early-whooo hoooo!   

I've got plenty to do around the house to keep me busy today.... hopefully the hubster doesn't go stir crazy! 

 the front porch

Silent Night

I saw this commercial  and thought is was so precious! Totally reminded me of my sweet baby angel- who I could watch sleep for hours! ....if she would only stay asleep that long;)