Spending time at home

It has been so odd to be home every day now. I haven't even been able to go take resumes anywhere because of the holidays and I have to have someone to watch Aidie. I guess I will start after the festivities... I find I'm finally getting back into the swing of being a housewife, but it's been a little difficult. I've really gotten used to being a working mom and having a bit of freedom away from Aidie. Not that I don't love my daughter and spending tons of time with her, but it was nice to have a chance to go and not have family responsibilities constantly pressing.
Regardless, we have been having fun and making some great memories. So enjoy the picture walk!


We went to Christmas at the Zoo yesterday with my parents. It was incredibly cold and I forgot my gloves (thank you Mommy for sharing) but we had a great time and even met Santa!Here I am posing next to a lovely Christmas tree outside the butterfly exhibit.

This was a huge tree just inside the butterfly exhibit. Some guy was nice enough to take a photo of all of us.

The whole zoo was filled with light sculptures of animals and holiday motifs. Pretty cool!

All of the trees when you first walked into the zoo were decorated. It looked like something out a Dr. Seuss book.

Here is little bundled up baby! Staying nice and toasty!

This was the line for getting into the zoo. Not even close to how many people were there on Halloween!



Aidie unwrapped her first present at from Cousin Dave and Judy yesterday too. So fun. She thought the bow was very neat and loved that she got to rip the paper. Although she obviously thought she was doing something she wasn't supposed to. LOL.

Here we are reading her new book!

We also took some pictures with Grandma and Grandpa Wisley. Grandma loved the little dress!!!

We posed with Aidie on the rocking horse too.

Dan did a holiday photo shoot of his cousin's little boy. We got some cute pictures of Zach and Aidie together!

Aiden has recently become obsessed with the CDs and DVDs on our shelf. This is her look of "What? Who? Me? What do you mean I'm chewing on something I'm not supposed to. I was just holding onto it for you..."

I love this picture of Dan kissing Aiden. She is so squirmy and only allows kissing when she feels like it. So funny!

Aunt Ellen and Uncle Biruk sent Christmas presents from Canada earlier this week. Aidie loved her little box that Auntie Ellen painted for her. She carried it around by the handle forever.

Here we have Aidie and Cainy in their usual situation. They are just so cute when the play together. I just love it!

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A very busy last couple of weeks

These past couple of weeks have been extremely busy. Dan started his new job this past Monday. I finished my student teaching and now have to start looking for a job and join the ranks of true adulthood. And Aidie has gotten so big- She has started trying to say "baby" and "bottle" which come out "bebe" and "bada". And we officially have our first tooth!!! We are super excited and pretty sure number two isn't far behind.:

Grandma and Grandpa Wisley saved the big box from a new chair they bought and let Aidie use it as a fort... or submarine as we made portholes instead of windows.

She loves crawling through the coffee table that serves as the entertainment center. Unfortunately, she got stuck right after this picture was taken and got really upset. She hasn't shown much interest in crawling through it since. More proof that trial and error is a good method of teaching.
We had our first experience with snow. She wasn't entirely sure what to think about it. As usual, she was very serious and studied it very intently.
We decorated our Christmas tree and helped Grandma and Grandpa Wisley with theirs too. Aidie LOVES Christmas trees- the lights, the ornaments, the branches. In her opinion, Christmas is super awesome!
She is also sharing, which is so incredibly cute. She will play and then hand us her toy and expect up to play with it. I just love it!

We finally took our Christmas pictures and we'll be sending out our Christmas cards ASAP!She actually crawled all the way up our stairs the other night- followed directly by mommy of course! I can't believe it! She went so fast!

Our First Thanksgiving

Before we had Thanksgiving, we thought we would see if Aidie was up for feeding herself. We tried out some yogurt melts (normally I don't like the thought of giving Aidie milk milk before 1yr. old, but we wanted to see what she can handle eating). By picking up her food with her thumb and forefinger, she has officially passed all of her 12month goals... WOW!!! How does she keep doing this. She is outstripping the charts and I can't even catch a breath before she does something else completely amazing. Well, when she graduates from MIT at 16...
The other part that we hadn't tried until a couple of days ago was handing a toy on command. She also does this pretty well. But beware, she is rather stubborn!
Thanksgiving was pretty fun. Unfortunately between lunch and dinner is nap time for Aidie. So we missed out on a chunk of the socializing. The bit that we got made for some super photos. We got to spend time with so much family! It is always so nice getting everyone together.
We brought home all of our Christams decor from my parent's house today. So we will hopefully be decorating soon. Those pictures to follow hopefully some time this week. I have been reorganizing the whole living room to make it more baby friendly and Christmas try friendly. THIS IS A TOUGH JOB! I can't believe how much she can get into now that she is crawling and pulling up. Nothing is safe on the lower shelves! I need more high shelves!
We are also officially done nursing. Aidie has spent the past three nights going to bed with bottle only. First night was hard. After that she went very easily. It's harder on me than her I think. I miss it terribly, but I know it was pointless to keep trying. There was nothing to give her anymore. We will just move her to solids as quickly as possible to get her off the formula. She is now eating: sweet potatoes, squash, peas, green beans, applesauce and wheat cereal. We are not allowed to eat: Rice cereal, bananas, or carrots. That is a list way too long of "not allowed to's" for a 7month old. Oh well.
I am almost done with student teaching, which means more free time, but also that I have to really look into jobs. If you hear of teaching positions opening up, I'm licensed for grades K-6!

These past few weeks have just flown by, as do they all as it has seemed lately. Aidie is now seven months old. Every day I am with her I feel like she has grown a mile and developed a year's worth. I still can't believe she is mine some times, but most of the time it is REALLY obvious: Karma is paying me back for all I put into this world...



Aiden is an official mover, get into-er, and trouble maker! Pictured below is my troublesome two. Aiden crawling and Cainy walking beside her, protecting or encouraging the trouble making, we are not sure.
She is now pulling up to standing! Thank goodness we lowered the crib when she was only getting to her her knees, as featured below. She went from on her knees to feet in one day. This child knows what she wants and how to get there and she is going!
Her hair is also growing a mile a minute! It is super long now. What we thought might be cradle cap seems to have almost disappeared by us washing her hair more often. I would have thought that would make it worse, but apparently not. Regardless, it is now down to the middle of her shoulder blades and makes for exceptionally cute pig tails!
As we see in this photo, more proof she is a trouble maker. She is tugging on cords, her now favorite thing to do.We have to get those fancy outlet covers that allow for cords. Something, anything, I just don't know how else to keep her from pulling them out of the wall! Besides chasing her around constantly!Daddy and Aidie have way too much fun when they are home together. Here daddy and Aidie are playing swords! Unfortunately the fun and so obviously Dan pictures will end shortly as daddy is taking a position as Cook the beginning of December and will be working days and Aidie will finally start daycare once mommy finds a job!

We have had so many visitors, as always, and I must post our thank yous for the company! Cousin Jilly and Daniel stopped by. Aidie was in a super serious mood (as her stranger anxiety has made even more apparent) and didn't allow holding until the end of the visit. Poor Jilly, it was like the Betul incident all over again. I just feel so bad, but she is just having some attachment issues. Apparently this is not an issue so much if I am not there, but if I am, I am an option and so she wants me and only me!
Auntie Lilly stopped by, as she is taking a couple classes once a week at IU this fall! Yippee! We have missed Lilly and hope she can convince Kim to pop in next time. We miss all of our friends and love the visits! Fortunately, Aidie was in a charming mood, which made for some hysterical pictures!
Here we have featured Aidie Ryelle with Auntie Pam on momma's 24th birthday. Oddly enough, we have no pictures of Aidie and mommy on mommy's birthday... but this is so sweet! The sadness ends. I love it!

A super sweet grandparent love moment. These two were wonderful when we took Aidie up to Riley this past week. Hip Hip Hooray! We are not in need of surgery! Apparently, and this will sound odd, it is something she will hopefully grow out of. The doctor said he believes I had overly nutritious milk to the extreme! He thinks her body just wanted to absorb every last drop and so it left no moisture to allow smooth passage. Thus this has transferred over with formula. We are trying to wean her off of Miralax, which I think will work well, we have already cut down to a teaspoon and I will do more I think.
We also found out that she has a heart murmur and a carrot allergy. Both, she should grow out of! The murmur is minor and should heal up on its own. The carrot allergy we found out as she broke out and spiked a fever as we tried them a second time. The first time she just broke out. I guess no more carrots for Aidie!

Is Shutterfly in your mailbox?

If you are like me, you have already been planning for the holidays for a month and a half. If you are like my husband, you will wake up in about a month and realize you forgot to leave yourself a reminder and, as a consequence, have yet to purchase gifts or send out Christmas cards!
Here is your reminder, as well as an exciting tip:
Shutterfly is having a special for the blogging community (if you have a blog, I'm talking to you!). Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010 . For every blogger that writes up a blog about this holiday promotion from Shutterfly, will receive 50 FREE holiday cards! And with the economy in the state it is in, FREE is always a plus!
All you have to do is submit an application, write a blog about your favorite designs, get your promotional code and onward to having "Deck the Halls" permanently stuck in your head.
As for us, we have so many choices of wonderful cards, it will be difficult to make a decision.

We could choose a modern, monogrammed card like this one, that greatly appeals to my professional and fashionable senses! Find more Christmas cards at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards.
We could choose a family fun oriented option, such as this. With a new little one in the family, a little color and fun holiday spirit is always appealing! Find more holiday cards at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards.
And we can even choose to purchase other exciting items, such as this wall calendar! After the excitement on my husband's face for the one I gave him showcasing his photography, I can safely say this is a fantastic holiday gift for anyone with a sentimental side. Find them at http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars.
Whatever you choose, and whether or not you are a blogger, know that you will be getting a great deal and great choices when you choose Shutterfly!

Fall Festivities!

SOOOOOO much has happened these past couple of weeks. As my student teaching ends, I find I'm more busy and yet getting things done more quickly. Does that make sense? I am definitely going to miss student teaching. As unsure as I was of kindergarten, I have really grown to love these kids and even to feel fairly competent in a kindergarten setting! And we all thought it would never happen... Emmaly? Teach kindergarten? Ha! And yet I have and I think have had lots of great experience, learned and taught a lot, and feel like I can really do this now! I still have a ton of learning to do, but who doesn't. I'm so excited for the things I will take away from this. I could not have been luckier in my placement.
As for Aidie:
We had a fantastic first Halloween. We carved a pumpkin- she does NOT like gooey pumpkin guts! She was excited, stuck her hand in, grabbed some and promptly dropped it back in (after looking from me to Dan like what the heck did you let me do that for?).
We went to ZooBoo for Halloween and I think we will make this an annual affair. Not too much candy, but lots of fun for the kids. We got some cute pictures and got to have Kathy come with us. I know it will be something that we will look back on often with fond memories.
Aidie went to her first Marching Band competition to see uncle Matt's band (and the high school of mommy's student teaching corporation) perform. Edgewood got second place and did very well I think! Aidie was fussy with all of the excitement, but we did get to see some of it.
To end the post we have some not quite so great news, but it will be better in the end. We will be taking Aiden up to Riley hospital soon for testing. PLEASE WARNED! THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS INFORMATION CLOSELY LINKED WITH TMI (TOO MUCH INFORMATION).
As most of you know, Aidie has had digestive issues from birth. She hasn't had a normal bowel movement without the aid of laxative ever. We recently tried her without laxative as our pediatrician had said once she started moving and eating solids to try. This has end in an even worse condition than when she started. More and more difficult stools each time, the last of what we are considering the terrible progression being one she couldn't pass on her own. I had to physically help her. It was awful. Blood, due to fissures and now unable to pass stool without laxative. So... the pediatrician's office is making her an appointment with Riley ASAP. The doctor we spoke to today said that Aidie is actually a candidate for testing for Herschsprungs Disease, owing to the fact that she had difficult passing the meconium after birth. It is a really serious condition that can only be fixed by surgically removing part of the diseased colon. Why everyone has failed to mention or do anything about this before is beyond me... really? The other doctor's didn't realize? Or do you just consider us incompetent, overly concerned parents that have absolutely no idea what we are talking about? My mother was the only one to even mention this before today! Okay enough rant. Any way... So we will hopefully have an appointment soon and will figure all of this out as soon as we can! We will appreciate all the prayers, positive thoughts and good vibes you can spare.
To note, she is still doing everything else normally. We have tried lots of different foods
Likes: Applesauce, Sweet potatoes, bananas and squash
Dislikes: Carrots and Peas (choked and puked for both... so it's not just my cooking!)
We are no longer feeding her rice cereal or bananas (even though she loved them) as they will just make her constipation worse.
She has added "mama" intensively to her vocabulary now. So she is saying: Bye, Hi, J.J., Dada, and Mama. Much else to follow soon I'm sure! Yes, she is saying in context some times, although she did call Dan "mama" today... that was hysterical!