BFF's

The other day some of our friends Mark and Ashley were over at our house with their son Brigham. Kaitlyn and Brigham are exactly one week apart and he even came to see her the day she was born at the hospital! haha. Anyways, they get to play with each other pretty often. Here are a few pics of them playing together:

Looking at the camera

Kaitlyn acting all innocent with one hand on Brigham's foot...

In for the kill!
I didn't get the after picture b/c I had to stop Kaitlyn b/c poor Briggs started crying from her sharp little teeth! haha!

Kaitlyn Sleeping: Part II

So this is how I found Kaitlyn this morning! Suprisingly she wasn't even crying like she usually does for me to come get her, just talking to herself. Now instead of just snuggling with the bumpers she has managed to crumple them up and slide underneath them! I retie these things every day! haha! So cute...She is always so happy for me to pick her up in the mornings!

Hi Mom!

Pick me up Please!

WDW Here we come! Again!

So I don't think I have mentioned it yet, but we leave for Disney World in 2 weeks! Wahoo! I am so excited! We convinced my Mom to take us a couple months ago and the time has finally almost arrived. We are going really cheap though! Me, Justin, my brother Justin, my Mom and Kaitlyn will all be staying in one room at the cheapest resort and we are going to try and fit into one car! haha! We also completed our Day of Service so we will get one free day in the parks out of it. So it will be an experience for sure! I am sure none of us will like having to sleep in the same room as Kaitlyn! She is such a noisy sleeper. I don't know how people sleep with their kids in the same bed as them...Justin and I don't even like for her to be in our same room! haha. I keep her monitor on the absolute lowest setting possible so I only have to hear her cries.

Anyways, I am so excited since last year when we went I was pregnant and couldn't ride anything. Plus Disney is very baby friendly we have been reading and they can pretty much go on any ride that I was able to ride while pregnant. If anyone does have any other tips for taking a baby to Disney I would love to hear them! We are worried about how the napping and eating will go. Her stroller reclines all the way down, so we are hoping she will nap there instead of having to go back to the room.

Justin is just so excited about all the food he can't stand it. He has already planned out all of his menus. We are doing the Disney Dining Plan...which if you have never done it, I HIGHLY recommend it. Last year was our first time and it was AMAZING. You don't have to worry about what you are spending and you get soooo much food. Plus you can get the most expensive thing on the menu if you wish. It really is cheaper in the long run...unless you are staying off of Disney and have a kitchen...but my family hates to cook on vacations. The food is the best part!

Does Your Baby Sleep Like This?

This is Kaitlyn's favorite way to sleep. Snuggled up next to her bumper with her arm around it and face smushed into it! Now some of you may say 'NO BUMPERS' but our pediatrician office acutally gives us a sheet that RECOMMENDS the use of bumpers. And we actually tried not using the bumpers in the beginning since she was like this, but Kaitlyn would get caught up with her arms and legs through the railing and cry and not sleep well so we brought them back. She moves around more than any baby I have seen when she sleeps. I put her to bed in a wedge at the bottom middle part of her crib and within about 10 minutes she is up in the corner cuddling her bumpers. It is a good thing we have this wonderful monitor: http://www.amazon.com/B%C3%A9b%C3%A9sounds-Angelcare-Deluxe-Movement-Monitor/dp/B000VS8WGA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1272472418&sr=8-1

This monitor allows us to sleep in peace at night. It is sooo great. It sounds an alarm anytime your baby quits breathing. And it has given us very few false alarms. Actually the only false alarms are when she is way up in the corner of the bumper b/c she has probably gotten too far away from the sensor. But one time the alarm went off and we had accidentally left a bib on her and it was up over her face! And that time she was right in the middle of the crib, so it has went off b/c of that! I freaked out. But thankfully we had the monitor, since as you can see Kaitlyn likes to bury her face in things!

Today is also Kaitlyn's 7 month birthday! Just a few status updates for me to remember. She now has two bottom teeth! She is able to sit up on her own very well and is getting better at her solid foods. Her favorites: oatmeal mixed with pureed strawberries. That is one of the few things she will actually lean towards the spoon for more. Others that she tolerates: green beans, peas, peaches. Dislikes: SWEET POTATOES, applesauce.
She still cannot crawl, but is getting pretty good at standing while holding onto something. She loves to stand. She is still fussy and always wants to be toted around while standing up. I just wish she would love being held while sitting down! That I could handle!

Easter

This Easter was a little different than most since our churchs's General Conference fell on Easter Sunday. So we actually didn't even have to go to church since the talks were broadcasted across the world on Satellite. So we had my mom and brother come over for Easter dinner while we watched the talks. Justin and I will definitely have to rewatch them. It is much harder trying to listen with a crying baby! haha. We still wanted to take some Easter pictures of Kaitlyn though dressed up in her Easter outfit!

Living within your means

Well we have made it through our second full month of Dave Ramsey and I must say it really is not too bad. I saw this video from the church pop up on my facebook this month and I thought "this is so true."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC7pPAyrSSg

When I think back on how foolish with money Justin and I were when we first got married I just can't imagine it now! I am like "WHAT WERE WE THINKING?!?!?!?" Ahhh! I mean we just bought whatever we wanted back then! Justin likes to blame the house on me. He wanted to just live in an apartment, but I thought "That is just throwing money away!" How was I supposed to know the whole economy was going to come crashing down and now we would be stuck and couldn't sell. oh well. We were very stupid though. I had about $20,000 or so saved up when we got married. Where is that now? Who knows! It turned into debt! And did we need it all? NOOOO! But I thought we did at the time. We ate out all the time and just did whatever we wanted. Now I can't even fathom it! I NEVER buy anything full price unless we really NEED it. Most everything we buy now is always searched for at yard sales or Craigslist first. I have actually NEVER even bought Kaitlyn a new outfit! Everything she has was either donated to us, bought from yard sales, or my mom does like to buy her a few things every so often. But I don't! I even buy her baby food on Craigslist! haha. Don't worry it is within date and unopened :)

The gist of the Dave Ramsey program is we pay cash for whatever we can, that is not drafted out of our account. And you set a budget. Like for instance we only allow $140 for groceries. And that includes diapers, toiletries, cleaning supplies...everything. So then we allow $60 for restaurants/to-go foods etc. The premise of Dave Ramsey is that if I run out of our $140 grocery budget, I have to take it out of somewhere else...like our restaurant budget. It NEVER goes back on credit. It really helps to pay with cash too b/c you really are physically seeing exactly where your money goes! There is a lot more to it than that, but you get the picture. So far we are doing pretty well. Still a long ways to go, but still hoping to be able to live off one income this year! If anyone is ever interested in the program just ask us about it! We definitely recommend it!

6 months ago...

Kaitlyn turned 6 months this past Sunday! I can't believe how fast she is growing! Although I can't say I miss the newborn stage since she is such a fussy baby! Maybe the first 2 weeks...She would actually let us cuddle her then. She has been getting slowly easier the older she gets as she is able to start entertaining herself with toys and what not. I am so looking forward to when she becomes mobile and really can play with stuff. And for those who say I won't...I guarantee I would rather have to watch out for and chase a mobile baby than constantly hold a screaming baby! So here are some updates of her 6 month check up:

Weight: 14 lbs 3 oz. Length: 24 1/4"

She is still a pretty small baby for her age being in the 10-25%. Currently she still is not eating solids very well. We have tried cereals and vegetables and the only time she will actually eat without a fight is in the bathtub! But I can't give her 3 baths a day! I thought maybe it was the lounging position of the tub, so I sat her in it without water but she wouldn't lay down in it or eat! She just prefers her bottles. I have also successfully hit the 6 month mark of exclusively pumping! I can successfully say that Kaitlyn has never had a drop of formula and all of her milk is exclusively pumped by me! I tried breastfeeding the first few weeks, but she would just never latch on unless I used this 'nipple shield' thing that I HATED! It would leak milk everywhere and I would get so annoyed. So I just started pumping. It's really not bad. I pump once in the morning before she wakes up, once mid afternoon when she is napping, and then 1-2 more times when Justin is home.

Kaitlyn has also started to not really let anyone else hold her besides me if I am in the same room. It is hard b/c even when Justin is home, I am still the one that usually still has to hold her, but secretly I love that she loves her Mommy so much! I know that I always vent on here about how hard she is, but I think Heavenly Father sent her to me for a reason. I have learned so much PATIENCE from her. Other things like work or whatever still stress me out so much, but it is amazing the bond that develops between a mother and baby. I usually always know what she wants and how to fix it. Even if it is not always convenient for me. And if I do have to have a difficult child I would at least prefer it to be my first! Those rare times that she does actually laugh...which are EXTREMELY rare make me so happy I could burst. Her smiles are much more common and those too melt my heart. Those happy times make it all so worth it. I just wish there were more of them! Guess I can't be greedy.