Winter Wonderland

We are in the middle of a blizzard at this time! Let me tell you it's great! I love the snow and even better, being stuck inside the house for days! We are expecting between 24-36 inches of snow! Right now, Ryan thinks we have at least 5 foot snow drifts. Enough about the weather ... let's get down to the real reason you all check the blog LILY!

Well, last week she had her 6 month check up, yep, she is 6 months already! Surprisingly she did not gain any weight from her last appt at 4 months, she is still tipping the scales at 15#. She falls into the 50% for weight and 25th for height. But, let me tell you the girl has "thunder thighs". I'm hoping she will get my height and Ryan's thighs!

She is on her way to sitting up on her own and getting up on her hands and knees in the crawling position! Yikes, I'm not ready for a mobile baby!

Gymboree is not having classes for the next 2 weeks, so Lily and I had lunch with another mom in the group and her little girl. Gymboree has been great for me to meet new moms and most moms have also just moved to Denver.

My sister Kim was to join us today for Christmas and then our drive down to Phoenix but that has changed with the weather. So it will just be the 3 of us for Christmas! We are looking forward to a nice quiet day together and leaving Dec 28th for Phoenix.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Welcome to the 2006 Holiday Edition of Getting to Know Jenny!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? hot chocolate
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? wrap
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white lights
4. Do you hang mistletoe? no
5. When do you put your decorations up? this year, first weekend in November
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? I usually skip the meal and go straight for dessert!
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: going to Grandma's house on Christmas Eve
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? my older brother spilled the beans
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? yes - we usually celebrate at my mom's house
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? lights, ribbon, floral stems and various ornaments
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love the snow!
12. Can you ice skate? Yep! I use to take my skates to school with me and stop by the rink on the way home.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift as a child? Anything Barbie
14. What is the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Giving to others.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? too many to mention - I choose dessert for my main entree as well!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Watch Christmas Vacation while we put the tree up!
17. What tops your tree? looks like a peacock died at the top of the tree - it's something new this year!
18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? I love to give and watch my nieces/nephews faces - but who doesn't like a little something.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Silent Night
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yum - it's sugar!

Shake Rattle & Roll

She's finally done it . . . as of her 5 month birthday Lily has sucessfully rolled over in both directions! Ryan and I missed the first two times she rolled over because we were busy putting the Christmas tree up and the second time to Tahoe's bloody wound to his paw (a nail got him)! Don't worry Tahoe survived and we even skipped the tetanus shot! No lock-jaw here! Yes, I had the tree up early as usual, but I also have all my shopping completed and the gifts wrapped under the tree by Nov. 5. Looks like I have quite a bit of time on my hands!

As you can see, we have had our Christmas pictures taken. Lily's newest trick is to shake her head "no" numerous times, which is also creating a monster bald spot on the back of her head! Hence the need for a beret. Keep checking back for more holiday pictures of Lily!

Lily and I have joined Gymboree, she absolutely loves it! She's what you might call a full-figured baby compared to all the other babies in class. Lily get's quite relaxed during class and I've nicknamed her "gassy gus" during class. I can't figure out why no one wants to sit by us! Hmm...

We had a great Thanksgiving, Ryan's parents, grandparents and uncle were at our house for the big meal. We went up to Boulder on Sunday for a Wyoming basketball game! Boulder reminded me a lot of downtown Madison.

Grandma Judy is flying in today from Phoenix, boy will she be surprised by the cold weather (25 degree high). She was just telling me yesterday that she had to wear a sweater because it was down to a chilly 70 degrees in Phoenix! This is the first cold weather we have had since moving here! I can't complain, our house is always 72 degrees so come on out to Denver for a visit!

Is it the altitude???

There have been a few strange things that have happened since we've been in Denver. First, we had a fairly big snow storm, we ended up with a foot of snow. Ryan decided he was going to shovel the driveway, but first he needed to buy a snow shovel. He went to Wal-mart and came home with a shovel you dig a hole with, needless to say only half of the driveway was scooped and I finished the job the next day with a snow shovel. Second, Ryan decided to help with the laundry. . . he washed one of Lily's diapers! Inside diapers are a million little beads to catch the liquid, just so you all know you can get all the beads out by washing the clothes three times (I think a football game was on)! Next, we went out to dinner with Kyle and we brought Lily's Bumbo seat for her to kick back in while we ate. On our way out the hostess asked us "Is that a potty chair?" Kyle replied "I guess if she would take a dump in it!" OK, Ryan and I think Lily is quite advanced but to bring a potty chair out to dinner and having a 4 month old potty trained??? Lastly, do you remember the movie Parenthood? There was a song the kids sang . . . when your sliding into home and your pants are full of foam! I never knew there was such a thing until changing Lily's diaper one day! Just one more thing, I went to Phoenix for the day to see my surgeon and set up hopefully my last surgery on my shoulder to find out he no longer takes our insurance as of the day before my appointment. So I was on a 7am flight to Phoenix and on a flight home by 1pm. At least our insurance for next year is accepted by him - we are looking at 6-9 months before I have my surgery (waiting on FDA approval for some new product). Crazy stuff going on!

My First Blog

As you all know, our lives changed with Lily's arrival in June and again in August when Ryan accepted a job in Denver. I thought I would summerize what's been happening with Lily the last few months in my first blog.

Lily is 4 1/2 months now and growing like a weed. At her 4 month check-up she weighed in at 15#, her cousin Allee is 9 months and weighs 18#. I guess this means Lily will be giving Allee hand-me-downs.

Lily has decided she does not want to roll-over, she gets half-way over and decides to go back to her previous position. She loves the Bumbo seat, this is a great gift for any new parents. It allows her to sit all by herself, but last night she decided she would like to lean back and take in the world this way. This scared me to death . . . I thought she was going to end up doing a back-flop on the kitchen table.

Next, we have been working on her sleeping patterns. Since day one, Lily has not slept very much, I think she's afraid she will miss something. So my friend Joy recommended "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth, we started using the book this past week and what a dramatic difference at night. Lily went from getting up hourly to 3 times/night. Plus she is starting to nap and falling back to sleep on her own (this is all since Sunday)! I'm loving this book and would highly recommended it - even our pediatrician was impressed I knew about the book because she worked with Dr. W in Chicago. Big shout out to you Joy!

Lily's first Halloween . . . we decided to go to Southlands Mall (an outdoor mall like Desert Ridge) on Saturday since it was a beautiful day out. Lily slept through most of it but did wake up eventually and sucked on her costume - I'm not sure maybe it is strawberry flavored. As for the actual day of Halloween we met Dad at work, then ventured over to Justin & Jill's house for dinner. No trick-or-treating for us, it was too cold that night! Brr!!!