Christmas Eve 2008

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Baby Alana Kathryn is getting ready to rip open some presents. Not that she'll really know what's going on, but there should be a lot of activity and that is what she likes. The trick will be making sure she doesn't eat some ribbon on a bow.


You can tell we have a spoiled one on our hands. Neither Lora nor I ever even talked about what we would get her for Christmas. I got her a couple of things and put them under the tree. Not too soon after that there were a ton more presents under the tree and just about every one was addressed to Alana. There are presents from Mommy, Daddy, the cats, and of course Santa. The basement tree is littered with presents from Aunts, Grandma, and Grandpa. I guess we just waited so long to have a child we have a lot of pent up present buying to deal with.

We had Christmas at Lora's parent's home on Sunday and Alana got a teddy bear that sings and lights up that she just loves. She also got a ball that does all kinds of stuff and it makes all of her limbs go bananas when it gets going. As you will see in the video, grandpa had a rocking chair customized with her name on it. Cool.

She is now eating at her highchair a couple of times a day and has taken to it really well. There's one problem though, she loves the peas and hates the bananas. I am having some DNA work done on her to determine if she's in fact human.

She still goes everywhere with us and never causes us a problem. Once in a car, the tires turn about 2 rotations and she's out for the count. At the store she just looks around and never makes a peep. She gets a lot of attention though from all the strangers that spot her as they have to come over and take a look at the cute baby. I'd like to tell you it's annoying, but deep down I know Lora and I love it...

She can sit on her own pretty good at this time, but you have to keep an eye on her. If something catches her attention to her left or right her whole body will go that way. She hates it on her stomach so she will roll right onto her back, but that's about it for movement at this time. With her hating it on her stomach so much I wonder how she will ever learn to crawl. From what I hear I shouldn't rush it though. At least at this point if you leave her somewhere she'll stay there.

In the videos you will see the special rocking chair that she got for Christmas. I know it looks cruel how she's strapped in there with her blanket, but it would be worse if we didn't do it (see last posting video of her stability). The other video shows how she has already figured out how to snore. You'll have to turn the volume up to hear it, but watch out because the next edit brings on her voice. When she wants something you know about it.

In all we are still the luckiest couple in the world to be blessed with such a beautiful, easy child. I always look forward to walking in the house to see her face light up with that intoxicating smile, and I could just sit there and watch her sleep for hours.

Make sure you all have a safe and Merry Christmas.

-Michael, Lora, Alana

6 Months Old!

First of all, sorry it's been so long since we have posted out here. Life has been changing rapidly and so has Alana. Today is her 6 month birthday and she spent it in Lincoln with her Grandma Diana's side of the family. She took her first road trip in the new car, and spent all of it sleeping. She loves to sleep in the car, and (thankfully) has been a great sleeper practically from day one. Here are some quick updates:

• She has found her new best friend, her tongue. She loves to keep it out for the world to see, and it makes trying to feed her from a spoon a real challenge






• On that note, we have been trying to feed her rice cereal but with little success. We also tried to feed her some sweet potatoes, but that was just as successful as the cereal. If someone fed me from a bottle every time I was hungry I wouldn't bother with the spoon either.






• She's getting more energy which equals more crazy. She loves to sit in her exersaucer and spin around in an attempt to put all the toys attached to it in her mouth. If she can get a hold of anything, she puts it right in her mouth. This includes: hair, cats, fingers, parts of people's faces, toys, her foot, blankets, the clothes she's wearing, her bib... you get the idea.






• The one thing she has not lost is her smile. She still smiles all the time and has learned to add a cute laugh to it when she deems necessary.






• She had her first cold last week, and here's what she took from it: a fake cough to get attention. An obvious inherent trait of her mother. She also has a "growl" and an inhale noise that rears it's head when she feels she is not getting the attention she deserves.

In all she has been an angel. No real drama, no unexpected flaws, and everything we could have dreamed for. She saw her first halloween but didn't get to trick or treat too much. We felt the number of houses around here giving out formula were sparse. We just wish that everyone who has a child could have it as great as us.

Apples! 09-2008

This year was a bunker crop for apples in Nebraska City, so Alana said we should go down there. We piled in the truck and headed south to check it out. We luckily took the scenic route and missed all the traffic.

Alana got to see horses, a true smith doing his skill (no not me dancing, a guy working some steel), lots of apple trees, several old people, some fat ones, and the Arbor Lodge. The weather was perfect and it was a great chance to get out of the house.

In the mean time Alana is still making plenty of noise. We have a video we just took tonight, but I need to get it to a professional sound guy to tone it down. We are trying to get her to eat rice cereal, but she likes it about as much as I like peas. We have been trying to sit in a bouncer, trying to roll over, and trying to grow more hair. We have succeeded at growling (apparently for Halloween coming up), getting our head to stand up, and getting larger.

In the video we: try to eat rice cereal (you can see she loves it), experiment with the bouncer, sleep in daddy's part of the bed, watch the smith at work, circle an apple orchard, and watch some horses.

Thanks for checking in. We hear lots of advancements are supposed to happen in the next few months. We'll keep you posted.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame 08-24-08

The 3-1/2 month check-in and it's been a busy weekend for Alana. Friday night she had Aunt Pam over to watch her while mommy and daddy headed for the drag strip to race daddy's car (how w/t...). Dad proved he couldn't drive his car on an official drag strip, the only place he can't get a ticket. There are more Fridays to come...

Saturday was Millard Days and the Millard Days parade in the street. She got to see clowns, old dudes in little cars, cheerleaders (cousin Todd's woman!), carnival rides, and creepy guys working the game booths. One of them stuck his tongue out at her. Yikes.

$7 bought a small stuffed duck and a purple stuffed fish. Dad wasn't good enough to win a giant animal. Maybe next time. That night she had company over with Spencer, Cindy, and their daughter Lily. Lily's on her own 2 feet already, so it will be a while before she can play with Alana. She will just have to play with Paws for now. (uhhh, maybe not).

Sunday morning we loaded up and headed to Rosenblatt Stadium for the annual Pella Picnic. They had the whole clubhouse reserved with food, games, and prizes. Alana came away with a cute stuffed lion and a pink baseball bat (for Paws when he tries attack mode on her). Dinner was at Valentino's buffet for Price's birthday and we capped the night at Aunt Macy's house for cake and ice cream.

Whew! Daddy needs a drink after all that (no, really he doesn't). All is well, Alana is happy and healthy, and she's not looking forward to her 4 month check up at the doctor... more needles. We shall report back.

Take care.

8-15-08 The First Post

We are just out here trying to work this thing. We are at the typical 9:45 pm hour where we try to hold off our little angel for a bit to get that last feeding in before she sleeps for the night. So far we have been pretty blessed with her sleeping at least 6 hours in the night and don't want to mess up the system.

At right about the 3 month mark she has become way more active and has added lots of "dialogue" into her routine. Not sure what she is saying, but she is saying it loud. She has discovered that she likes her tongue out, likes the taste of her entire hand, and fires out a snort from time to time. She is definitely her mom's child.

Hopefully we get over the learing curve of this site and can provide continued pictures, video, and information about our little girl.

Wish us luck!