It's December already?!

I'm not even going to try and fill everyone in on what has been going on in that last 5 months, lol. I'll try and do a short recap though.

Everything is great!! Allie is amazing and Aiden is as awesome as ever!

Aiden is ahead of the class in Kindergarten, and his teacher is absolutely amazing! I really really like her and couldn't speak more highly of her. She told us that she's going to sit with Aiden while the other students work, and go over more advanced things with him. A lot of teacher's wouldn't take the time to do that, and it just makes me happy to hear how much she cares about her students!

He's doing great with Allie - even though she's at that stage where everything is HERS and if he tries to tell her otherwise, he gets a slap, pinch, or bite from Ms. Attitude. We're working on it though, and I couldn't ask him to tolerate it better than he does. He's being very patient with her like I talked to him about, which is awesome!

Allie is getting bigger and bigger and I love it!! I love chasing her around and playing with her! She's such a delight! She's finally putting herself to sleep now! She just needs her little seahorse and a cup of warm water to cuddle with. Yes, she cuddles with her cup, lmao. Crazy kid!
 She's saying new things all of the time, but it takes me a few times to realize what she's saying. It's so cute!
She understands everything though! I can ask/tell her anything, and she'll do it. My favorite is when she'll take her empty bowl to the kitchen and put it in the sink w/out me asking her. Or watching her run the DVD player. It's just absolutely hilarious to watch a little person doing those thing! She loves matching her shoes up and won't put on a pair unless she has the match to it. She's a shoe princess and she loves getting new clothes! This is very bad for me, LOL.

But, even with her princess side, comes some crazy wildness! This girl is a monkey! She's climbs on EVERYTHING! Up chairs, on tables, the entertainment center, the DVD cabinet (it's built into the wall, so no worries:) ), drawers in the kitchen, etc. The best is when she's trying to get into the utensil drawer. She'll pull it open part way, let it catch on the fridge door handle, and then pull herself up with her arms, while putting one foot on the cabinet below and the other on the fridge. I walked into her doing that one day and about died, lol.


So yes, things are fabulous, funny, and happy here at home! :)


On the flip-side, I would like to ask those of you out there to say a quick prayer for my baby cousin. He was just diagnosed with Leukemia a few weeks ago. He's not even 2 yet. He's go A LOT of people pulling and praying for him, but more prayers will never hurt!

 Allie at 15 months

and of course, it is still difficult as ever to get Aiden to let me take his picture. He's kind of coming around though, so keeping fingers crossed that I can start adding lots and lots of pictures of his crazy little self! :)

Not slow enough!!

So much for my hoping of a slow month! Allie's 1stbirthday is Wednesday and Cameron's 2nd birthday/angelversary is a week from tomorrow. I just can't believe it!!

It's hard planning for both days and only having one of them here. But, it's something I need to get used to.


The party planning is going great so far! My big fret was the birthday cake. In all of my organic/natural -loving glory, I just couldn't bring myself to buy her a cake from the store. Or even make one for her for that matter. I know, I know, it's her birthday and one time isn't going to hurt her, but when you know what's in those things, and you know specifically what they do and how they shouldn't be in our diets (thanks to my older bro, who's about as big of a health nut as I am, for letting me in on that stuff. I'm being somewhat sarcastic here, lol. Life was just a little bit easier when I didn't know those things!), it's HARD, LOL!!! The hubby was making fun of me, but I was bound and determined to find a way to do this.

How how easy it was!!! I never thought that our regular grocery store would have natural cake and frosting mix. Holla! (that's a signature Hollie thing...don't ask, lol)

I was a little leery about it, but O.M.G. is it tasty!! However, I'm just not so sure I'm crafty enough to make cakes, with fondant, to feed 50+ people!! Sooo, a friend of mine came to the rescue! She's opening her own bakery and offered to do both cakes (which will look like two big flip-flops...we're doing a baby luau) and Allie's smash cake for $60!!! So excited!!

I've got most of the decorations bought, just have to order a few more things from my most favorite place - Oriental Trading!! I found so much stuff for super low prices!!

Now I just have to figure out what Hawaiian type foods we're going to do!



As for Cameron's little get together, we're doing the traditional balloon release with friends and family, and Aiden and Allie will make cupcakes! I love that they get to do something themselves! My mother in law said she's going to get a blueberry bush for us to plant in his garden (that still needs to be done). I've wanted some type of fruitful/flowering plant or tree since we lost him. I thought it would be a special way to sort of "take care of him"...


Such a busy busy time of the month! I hope everything goes super smooth!

This month better go by slowwww

First off, here are a couple pics of my big girl! Aiden took this first on of her as we were leaving my parent's house.

I took some photos of Ellie last week, and was able to snap this one real quick of the two of them. Allie kept trying to poke Ellie in the butt cheek, lol (you can see her getting her finger ready in the pic). I just think it's kind of special to have a picture of our two girls - our rainbow babies - together!

My little girl is 11 months old now! I cannot believe I'm going to be throwing her a birthday party in less than a month! This last year has flown by!

She's growing like a weed and is doing something new every day!

She got two new teeth on the top, and it looks as if another will be coming in next to them shortly. If that one does come in, she'll have 5 teeth total! She's getting better and better at walking, but still prefers to crawl most of the time.

This girl is in to EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING! But, it keeps her content and happy, so who am I to discourage her? lol. It's bad! Sometimes when I'm cooking dinner, I will let her sit there with the fridge door open, playing in there, pulling stuff out, putting stuff back, etc. just so I can get stuff done, lol.

She's such a mommy's girl and I love it - well, 95% of the time anyway. Most of the time, she's happy playing, but it's like the minute she sees me, a switch goes off in her head saying, "Start crying. Crawl to mom. Make her pick me up." And I always give in.

The funniest thing she does is when she gets caught getting into something she knows she's not supposed to be in to. I'll walk in and say, "Allie! What are you doing little missy?". And she'll get all wide-eyes, hold up whatever it is that she has, and make this cute little noise - almost like she's saying, "Here mommy, you play too!". I can't help but smile every time!

Her and Aiden are little hellians around here! They both know just what to do to push the other one's buttons. Obviously, Allie isn't doing it on purpose, but I think she just likes the reaction she gets. Aiden just does it to hear her scream. I just about go nuts on a weekly basis, lol.

We bought her, her new big girl carseat a few weeks ago!! I'm so glad we did! She looks so much more comfortable in it, and doesn't cry nearly as much as she did in her infant seat. We got the Graco Myride65. The pink and brown one. We're doing extended rear facing. I didn't know anything about it before really, and kind of blew it off when I read about other women doing it. Then I read a pretty lengthy (and somewhat heated) discussion about it on my BBC, and it completely changed my mind about the whole idea!

We took her and Aiden to the Toledo zoo yesterday! They both loved it!! Allie went nuts over the aquarium! She was trying to grab the fish through the tank walls. It was so cute to watch her! We all had a great time!

9 month appointment

Allie had her 9 month appointment and it went great!!! We met with an awesome D.O. and had the best appointment we've had in a long time! She was very respectful of our decisions and was absolutely wonderful with Allie! I had heard that D.O. we're more open to a natural approach to things, so I went ahead and made her appointment with one. I'm so glad we did! Now I don't have to worry about switching peds! :)

Allie is doing wonderful!! She's 19lbs 11oz and 27.5" long. She's right where she should be with everything! The Dr. was surprised that does the pincer grasp and drinks throught a straw. Aiden drank through a straw early as well. I just introduce it early. As for her pincer grasp, she's been doing that since about 5 or 6 months. I think that's why she was a little later than Aiden with crawling - because she was focusing on smaller things like that. I asked about her foot turning outwards and she said that, at this point, it's hard to tell if it's just a balance thing or if it's an actual gate issue. She just said to keep an eye on it, and if it gets worse, we'll look into more. I guess once they start walking, it's easier to tell what the actual issue is.

She has also mastered the stairs, as I found out yesterday. UGH! Before she could only barely get up the first one. Last night, I followed her all the way to the top.

I just love her personality! While she can seem rather bossy at times, she so very funny and sweet! We've got a 13month old here that I've been watching since yesterday, and Allie rules over her. Not in a mean way, but you can tell she thinks she's gotta be in control of everything. I'm gonna have fun with her once she gets older. Note the sarcasm, lol.

9 months!!

I'll get some pictures up as soon as I get them loaded onto my computer. The other day was the first time I had picked my camera up in weeks! I just needed a break! Things were going way too fast for me, and I didn't feel I was ready for where it was taking me. People were asking me left and right to do family pictures, baby pictures, birthday pictures - and while I love that they love my photos, *I'M* not where I want to be yet, and I don't want to give anything to anyone that I'm not happy with myself.
So, I'm starting over. I'm learning my camera from top to bottom - not just the inbetween stuff. And then, hopefully, by the end of the year, I will be where I want to be and will be on my way to getting an upgrade! :)

Ok, enough about that - on to Miss Allie!

She's doing wonderful and learning something new every day! She understands more words now. If I say something or ask her where something is she will get it/go towards it/look at it/etc. She's been pulling up for awhile now, but she is now letting go for about 5-10 seconds. She falls, but her balance is getting better and better, and I can just tell she's itching to walk! I have a feeling it'll be late May - mid June before she starts walking. She's getting the hang of waiving hi and bye and it's oh-so-adorable!! She figures things out very quick as well - like how to put tops back on things, how to stack 2 or 3 blocks (and how to knock them down of course, lol!!), how to open and close stuff...you know, that sort of stuff.
She's babbling like crazy, but hasn't said any actual words, aside from your typical "mama", "dada", "baba" stuff. Sometimes I think I hear her say, "Hi" and "yeah", but who knows!

Aiden's getting excited because she actually plays with him now. She loves to copy him and he thinks it's just the funniest thing in the world! She, on the other hand, just loves to crawl all over him and bang stuff on his head! Oh, how I love these two!


We're planning a trip to the Toledo zoo in June and I cannot wait!! Aiden's never been, so he'll love it! I used to go all the time when I was little and we were visiting my grandparents. I remember the gorillas the most! I especially remember one, whom I believed was named Max, who used to escape all of the time, lol. Allie is going to go crazy! This girl loves her animals! She squeels and claps whenever any animal is around. Heck, she even gets excited over the sight of stuffed animals. I really want to take her to Binder Park Zoo as well. ONLY because they have an awesome giraffe exhibit, where you get on this platform and the giraffes walk right up to you and you can feed them! I can only imagine how excited she would be! Other than that, I don't care much for that zoo. It's a semi-rip off for what they offer. But, the kids always have a good time, so I won't complain! :)

I just really wish Summer would kick in to gear and bring us some nice, warm, weather that actually sticks around! Oh, and the fact that little Ellie will be here in just about 4wks!!! :) :) :)

I can't do it!

CIO attempt = epic fail.

Never in my life will I do that again, lol.

Allie has been having issues at night, and needless to say, I AM TIRED!!! I tried CIO last night, but only lasted a mere 8-10min. Poor thing was so exhausted from crying. I walked in there and she was standing up, half slumped over the railing, with her head lying on the side. She probably would have fallen asleep like that if I had left her!! I scooped her up and wrapped her in a blanket and just cuddled and rocked her. She was out within 20 seconds.

I felt awful! While she was falling asleep in my arms, she was still wimpering! I just kept giving her kisses and rocking her.

I know she was fine and all - she had been fed and changed. She just wanted her mama. And when I think about it, there is nothing wrong with that. She's a baby. She will eventually go to sleep on her own and sleep through the night. While I may be tired, I do like rocking her and watching her drift off to sleep in my arms. I'm going to miss it when she's done with all of that, so I guess I just have to suck it up, go to bed earlier and try to enjoy the one-on-one time I have with her.

Full Speed Ahead! And a bit of a rant...

Our little Allie is crawling like a champ now! She officially started on April 5! She's everywhere and loves it! I, on the other hand, somewhat miss her completely immobile stage. Then again, it's so much fun to see them learn new things! What else?? She's waving hi and bye, she claps and "dances" when she's excited, she's pulling up on everything and cruising along the furniture when she gets the chance.

We just started cloth diapering, and so far I love it! They are adorable and oh-so-soft!! It's a slow process, so we still have sposies around, but I'm hoping to be 100% cloth by Summer time!

She's eating lots more now! She can drink from a sippy, a straw, and a regular cup. I prefer the sippy and straw to the regular cup for clean factor. lol

She still only has two teeth, but she manages food great! I still keep things pretty soft for her though!

She still isn't sleeping through the night!!! It's bad! She's goes to bed around 9:00, wakes up around 2-3am to eat, goes back to sleep, and then wakes up at 5am. I nurse her and she's out within minutes, but the second I lay her in her crib, she's awake and crying. This has led to me being exhausted, which in turn, has led to her sleeping in our bed for the past two nights. I am stopping this now! While I don't necessarily have an issue with co-sleeping at this age, I do believe that mom and dad's bed is for mom and dad. I know people that co slept and ended up having their kids in bed with them until they were 5-6yrs old. Not something I'm interested in, thanks.

She was sleeping through the night up until around 5 months old. Not sure what happened, but I really wish she would revert back to her old ways!!

I've decided I'm going to start her on rice milk when the time comes. I've been drinking it since she was 2wks old, and I cannot go back to regular cow's milk. Aiden drinks it too and likes it, so I see no reason to have two different milks in the house. It's easier on her system and a lot easier to digest for little ones (us as well!). I've felt much better since making the switch too. Not to mention all of the hormones and crap that cows are fed nowadays. I was also reading there are traces of blood and pus in cow's milk. Do I know that to be 100% true? No. But I guess it makes sense - it is breastmilk after all!

RANT ON:

People think it's such a bad thing to not have babies on cow's milk. Really? I'm just not so sure nature intended for humans to be drinking baby cow's milk. We make breastmilk for human babies, cow's make breastmilk for calves. Their milk is made to sustain a baby CALF - to nurture it into a 300lb+ animal within 24months. Makes you go hmmmm! At least I do, lol.

This is just the way I view things. Am I going to scoff at you because you give your kid cow's milk, feed them frozen, boxed, bagged foods, take them to mcdonalds, or vaccinate them? Absolutely not. Your kid, your choice. I respect that. I just ask that people do the same for me.

What DOES annoy me is when I get laughs and eye rolls. To me, that signals that you are insecure with your parenting choices and abilities. Don't out yourself like that. You'll only look like a fool to me, which in turn gives me the right to laugh at you. I won't though - at least not to your face.

I will absolutely not apologize for going against the grain and making sure my kids are healthy and as natural as possible - the way nature intended them to be. So what if I don't do what everyone else is doing! That's not me. I have my opinions and beliefs and I stick with them. If you think differently of me for this, maybe it's time you reevaluate yourself. If you're truly comfortable with the decisions you make as a parent, you won't have an issue with mine.

Random? Maybe. But I've noticed that I've had a few people stop talking to me ever since I have made my parenting decisions a little more known. Online and in real life. Does it bother me? Maybe a little, but nothing I'm losing sleep over. I am 110% confident in the choices I have made as a mother, and I'm damn proud of that. I'm an organic loving, natural practicing, crunchy little mama and I wouldn't have it any other way!!!

RANT OFF

Sorry, got sidetracked there, but it was stuff that was bothering me. And before anyone says anything about how Allie won't get the fat and nutrients that she "needs" from cow's milk - please understand that there are better, healthier ways to get those things. She loves avocodos for instance - those are full of healthy fats! We cook with olive oil, which again, is a healthy fat. Rice milk is enriched with Vit. D and calcium, and even has a bit more of other things than regular milk does. And did you know that 1 measly cup of broccoli juice contains a helluva lot more calcium than milk? Yep, it does. So chillax people, I got this.

Anywho...


Aiden has started tball and loves it!! He's a natural just like his daddy! Chev was really hoping he would love the sport, and it's looking like that's going to be the case. Chev has a lot to teach him, and I can't wait to see them together as he gets older. Chev could have went far with baseball, but had to stop at college because of his hips. He was the best catcher in the this area, but the years of it wore on him bad. I think there is a big part of Chev that would love to see Aiden go far, but he also understands that it might not happen. We're cool with that!

Gotta go! I've got MOUNDS of laundry to fold! More later.

She's crawling! ....well, sort of! :)

It seems like Allie has done so much within the last week! Not sure where all of it is coming from all of a sudden, but I'm loving it! It's just amazing to watch her learn and do new stuff every day!

She tried her first meat yesterday! Chicken! She loved it! I cubed up some chicken breast, along with an apple and a sweet potato. I threw them in a pot of water and boiled them, and then pureed them together! It was definitely different at first, but after the first couple of bites, she couldn't get enough! I didnt plan on starting meats yet, but I felt like her "menu" was getting bit repetitive. She's still breastfeeding around 5-7 times a day. Normally about 6 though. She gets solids in the morning and at dinner time, and once in awhile, she'll be hungry enoug for solids at lunch, but not all of the time. I really do love breastfeeding, but there is a part of me that is completely anxious to get my life back! It's going to be so weird not having to worry about it all when I want to go out or plan around it when we want to go somewhere.

She has mastered her pincer grasp! It's SOOO cute! I had some cheerios on the table and instead of grabbing at them opened fist, she used her thumb and first finger, and ever so carefully grabbed them. She was concentrating so hard, lol!

She is "talking" more now. She says "baba", "mama", "dada", and some other things that i don't understand, lol. Sound like "vra vra" and "bllllaaahhhh". LOL. She has also started letting us know when we piss her off...ha! If she has something, and we take it from her, she gets this disgruntled look on her face, and will then proceed to scream at us. Basically, she's developing a nice little attitude :P

As far as her mobility goes, this girl gets around! Half of the time, I have no idea how she does it. I'll put her on the blanket in the living room, go to another room to do something, and when I come back, she's half way across the room, lol. She's on her belly when I find her, so I imagine she is pulling/scooting/rolling around.

She got up on her knees today!! She stayed there, rocking for a good 30sec. and then.....she crawled backwards. Backwards!!!! HAHA!! It was so funny! She was trying to shard to get to me, but couldn't figure out why she was going the wrong way. So, after about 2min. she gave up, and fell to her tummy. She's getting there though!

She's also aquired the skill of putting things in and taking things out of a container. She has been pulling them out of things or awhile now, but about a week ago was when she started putting them back in. She'll drop one of her monkeys in the monkey barrel, and then look in the barrel to see what she has done. She gets all sorts of excited over it! She's so proud of herself!

She's clapping!! Well, it's sort of! She's just gotta get the hang of opening her hands completely. I've been showing her how to do it for the past month now, so when she finally started doing it a few days ago, I was so proud! So funny how the littlest things make you so happy when you're a parent!

She hasn't been weighed since her 6(7)month appointment, but I'm guessing she's probably close to 19lbs now! I'll weigh her tomorrow and see what we get! She's in 9 or 9-12month clothing now. There are a few things that are 12m that fit her! Just depends where they're from! I pulled down a tub full of clothes that we had gotten before I had her. They were all bigger sizes, so I put them away. I completely forgot how much stuff we had in there that would fit her now! It was like she got a whole new wardrobe in 10 seconds! As a woman, I can tell you that something like that is absolutely awesome! :)

I still cannot believe that 4 months, we're going to be celebrating her 1st birthday! It's insane!! I can't wait to go pick out her birthday dress and to get everything together!

Yay for Spring, healthy babies and teeth!

I can't believe Spring is almost here!! I am so excited! Well, aside from the nasty wetness that ensues here in Michigan, I am. We almost hit 70 today which is nothing short of amazing!! This Winter wasn't bad at all. As a matter of fact, I hardly remember it! It went by so fast, and we really didn't have that much snow. Last year was awful! So much snow and sooooo cold out! I remember going out to start my car one morning, when it was -20 out, and my car was frozen INSIDE!

Anyhow, I'm just glad we have warm weather to look forward to! Plus, it means lots of photography for me!

Aiden and Allie are doing wonderful! Aiden came down with a little bug the other day, but he's recovery very nicely. Nothing a mother's touch, popsicles, and a lot of Vitamin C couldn't take care of! Allie has managed to dodge all of it which is awesome! I'm so thankful for healthy kiddos!

She isn't crawling yet, but she's getting around in her own little way. She semi-army crawls, or will turn in circle on her belly to get something she wants. It's so cute! If I put her up on her hands and knees she rocks back and forth, but doesn't quite get that she can go if she really wanted to. She got her first tooth about 2 weeks ago! I can't believe how big she's getting! We'll be celebrating her first birthday in 4.5 months!! It's so crazy to me! I feel like I just brought her home from the hospital a couple of weeks ago!

Just thought I'd throw in a quick update! I have to go get Aiden from school and figure out what in the world I'm making for dinner. We're really striving, as a family, to eat all whole, organic foods! We're contemplating doing a garden this year, but we'll see! It just feels good to get away from all of the crap that's out there and know that I'm putting the best food that I can into our bodies!

Here are a few pictures I took about a week ago! The first decent one of Aiden and Allie since she was born! And the other two are of my mom and Allie.

Ok, Ok...

First off, we finally had Allie's 6 month appointment today! Everything is great! She now weighs 17lbs, 6oz and is 26.5"! I was getting concerned that she wasn't trying to crawl, but quickly realized today that she is 100% where she should be! I guess just reading and seeing all of these babies, who are the same age, and crawling, had me a little worried. I hate even saying worried, because I know all babies do things on their own time. I guess I wasn't really worried....just curious is all! :)

She can actually hold herself on her hands and knees for about 5-6 seconds now! I have to put her that way, but still. I did it today, and she started rocking a little bit! I was just curious to see what she would do! I'll let her figure it out on her own, because while I can't wait for the crawling, walking, talking, etc. I want to enjoy her being my baby! She's my last!! :(

I let her play in some Avocado yesterday evening, and boy was that a treat!! She got it ALL over, and I was laughing so hard! I don't know why in the world I didn't get pictures, but I definitely will next time. At least I know she loves them those! She had it all over herself, and would stop what she was doing, ever so often, and lick her fingers.

Aiden has figured out how to carry her around now. I still watch him very close, but he's so excited that he can do it! He is such a good big brother!!

Ok. SOOOO....about Heather...

Steph, you cannot say anything!!!! LOL

Buuuuuut, your instincts are ...























RIGHT! ;)

It's A...

I'm pretty sure I'll be safe spilling the beans here. Heather doesn't even know of this blog, and it would be a miracle if she just happened to stumble upon it. Seriously, it won't happen! ....right? lol

I've almost slipped up to her a few times. She'll say something about the baby moving, and I'll instinctivley say, "Oooh, is ......ahh, the baby kicking?". It gets harder and harder the longer I know! I won't say a word to her - at least on purpose! And I try my hardest to watch myself around her. It's the hardest when we're out shopping and she wants to buy something. All I can tell her is, "Yeah, get it! It's adorable!" If she's wrong, she'll just have to take it back, lol.

So...

Crap! You know what?! I just realized that one person who is friends with both of us is on here. *cough* Steph *cough* ;)

Damn. I've been dying to tell someone, and this was going to make me feel so much better.


Either way, boy or girl, our babies are always going to know how special they are. Both Allie and little Ellie or Cole will know that they are here because their mommies were brave enough to try again. I hope they will grow up to be good friends. I couldn't imagine sharing a bond like that with someone! :) 4 more months!!!!

Oh boy!!

There has been a bit of change around here, and hopefully it's for the best! I decided to put off nursing for awhile, and focus on other things. I'll finish one day, but at the moment, it's just not in my cards. I see how overwhelmed my brother is, and how much he has to study to remain at the top of his class. I can't do that with a baby whom I'm still nursing. I don't want any added stress when I'm in the program, so I've chosen to wait until Allie is a bit older and a little more self-sufficient!

In the meant time, I'm learning more and more about photography, and I LOVE it! Always have, always will! I've added a few new pieces of glass to my collection, and will shortly be getting my long-awaited Tamron! I did my first wedding (which was totally last minute and a big surprise!) a week ago! I was notified 5 days before the wedding! On top of that, I had a speedlite which I had 2 days to learn! Talk about stressful! I have a wedding I'm doing this July, so I thought I had plenty of time before my first one! Then I get hit with this! BUT, I'm very much a person who dives right in, head first - so I did. And it went great!! I had a few lighting issues, but other than that, everything turned out fine! Given the low budget of the wedding, the time I had to prepare, and how not on time everyone was that day, I think I did a great job, and I know the bride will be happy with her photos! I let my mom peek and she said I did a very good job for it being my 1st ever! And my mom is the type of person to tell it like it is, so I was happy over that!

I may be doing another one in Detroit this April, but it's not certain. I'm still contemplating! I also did a friend of mine's kiddos! 6 of them!! THAT was a treat, lemme tell ya! I'm used to 1 or 2, so posing and getting all of them to look at me that the same time was a huge challenge! I didn't get as many good shots as I would have liked, but she was happy with what we were able to come out with. It also didn't help that the lighting in her house was NOT in my favor, and the space I had to work in wasn't all that fantastic either! I told her I want to do some outdoor ones come Spring time.

I'm doing Heather's maternity photos next Saturday, and I can't wait! After that, I'm doing two more family sessions for friends, and an engagement session this Fall!

I love it all, and it's great extra money for us!

Allie hasn't had her 6mo appointment yet, but she goes on the 10th! I'm guessing she's somewhere around 16.5lbs and maybe 26-27"! We're still vaccine free, and plan to keep it that way. And guess what? She's not dead! lol. As a matter of fact, she's never been sick at all! At our last appointment, I told the pediatrician, "Look, here's my box. And in my box are my two main points. Which are..."

1* Every Dr. will recommend that we take vitamins, right? Why? Because they're good for us. BUT, every Dr. will not recommend that I vaccinate my child. Why is that? When it comes to me injecting that sort of stuff into my daughter's blood stream, I want the medical community to all agree on it. I think that's important.

2* I wouldn't feed my daughter the stuff that is in vaccines, so why in the world would I inject it into her bloodstream? Our bodies are made to metabolize what we ingest, NOT formaldehyde, thimerosal(which is 50% mercury. That doesn't make me feel better), human diploid cells (aborted fetal cells), cells from different animals, etc. that is injected into our bodies.

All she said was, "Ok." and nodded her head. I consider that somewhat of a breakthrough, as we've always had some sort of head-butting when it comes to us not vaccinating.

She's healthy, we're healthy, we practice good hygiene, use common sense, eat whole foods, take our vits, etc. While we may come off SLIGHTLY hippy-ish to some, it doesn't bother me. In fact, I quite like our way of life! :)

Allie has now tried sweet potatoes, 2 kinds of squash, sweet peas, carrots, pears, bananas, apples, applesauce, and mangos. She loves it all, but the bananas seem to back her up pretty good, so we skip those quite a bit! We're still making our own babyfood, and I still like it just as much as I did the first day I started! It's so much fun, and I love knowing that she's getting the absolute BEST nutrition!!

We've added another critter to the house! We bought Aiden a little hamster, who he named Coco! She's an adorable cream colored teddy beat hamster. She bit Allie AND I today though :(. I felt awful! I was letting Allie check her out in her little strawberry house, and she was getting so excited! It was so cute! She then grabbed at the strawberry, and before I could pull her hand away, the little shit got her! She cried for a quick second, and her finger bled for quite awhile. It wasn't a huge wound AT ALL, but she got her right on the tip of her finger, so all of that blood was expected. It was the first time my little girl has ever bled :(


She still isn't trying to crawl, and she's not yet a master at sitting up. I carry her around ALL of the time, and I need to stop, so that she can practice these things! However, the funny thing is, is that she stands quite well! So, she may skip all of that junk altogether, and go straight to walking. We shall see! Either way, I am not worried at all! She's happy, healthy, and smart. She just does things on her own time! :)

Here is her 6mo picture! I snapped this up in Aiden's bedroom when we were all up there playing one day!
And here are some of her in her new gear I just bought at the new baby boutique in town!



Now if you're wondering why I never have any photos of Aiden, it's because he's a typical 5yr old boy! He hates it, and after about 3min. he's done, lol. My goal is to get some photos of them by time Spring rolls around! We'll see!


OH!!!! And Heather finds out what she's having on Monday!! Myself and her husband are the only two people that will be finding out the sex. She doesn't want to know. She's having a scheduled c/s, so she really wants it to be a surprise! I'm so excited!!! :)

Looking forward to a great year!

Happy 2010 everyone!! Let's hope this will be a good year! I have a feeling it will be!

For starters, my awesome friend Heather, who lost her son at 37wks, just 2 months before we lost Cameron, is pregnant! She's due mid-June, and I couldn't be happier for her!! Our initial plan was to get pregnant together, but she had some troubles early on. Pay no mind to that now, because it doesn't matter anymore! She's gonna have a baby!! I'm so excited!

And of course, our little Allie will be 1 this Summer, and my little man will be 6!! I cannot belive for a single second that Aiden is going to be six years old this year! Where in the world has the time gone?! Before I know it, I'm going to be old, and they're going to be in high school! Ok, well I won't be THAT old, but I'll be pushin' 40, and that's old enough for me, lol!

Aiden is doing outstanding in school! He's made honor roll, student of the week, and got the respect award from his prinicipal! Now, my only question is why can't he be that good at home, lol ;). Nah, he's a good kid, but he's got your typical 5yr old attitude at times. Drives me crazy, but I wouldn't have him any other way!

Allie is sitting up now, but has no real interest in rolling over anymore. She still does it from time to time, but she would much rather but sitting all the way up. She's 16lbs now! I haven't been able to measure her, but will do so shortly. I would imagine she's gotta be somewhere between 25 and 26"! She's in 6 or 6-9mo clothing! We had so much 3-6, that I thought she would be in for awhile, but that wasn't the case! Ah well, just another reason to shop! :)
She's also getting her first tooth! It wasn't a fun weekend, but I think the worst is over! I just hope that they all aren't like that. I felt so bad for her! But, we're back on track now, and I'd imagine that tooth should be all the way through very shortly!

As for me? Doing good! Just surprised I'm not bald yet! My hair is still falling out, and it's the thinnest it's EVER been. I used to have such nice, super thick hair, and now I have to keep it short just so it doesn't look to stringy. I'm really hoping it'll come back once I'm done breastfeeding!
I'm starting classes again next week, and will be testing into the nursing program. I won't be entering this May, but will use my score to get in next year. I see how stressful it is on my brother, and he's single with no kids. I can't imagine having to be gone as much as him, especially with me still breastfeeding! It'll just be better for everyone if I wait one more year!

Slacking

Man, I'm really behind this year!! We JUST put our tree up about 3 days ago, and I have yet to buy a single gift, LOL. I'm the biggest procrastinator I know! I just haven't had the time to get away and do any shopping. This is how it is every year though, and I'll be out just a few days before Christmas, doing all of my shopping! You think I'd learn!

I also wanted to do Christmas cards this year, with the kids on there, but never was able to get around to taking any pictures of the two of them. For one, it's hard to get them together, how I want them, when Allie still needs a bit of help sitting up. By time I get back to my camera, she's about falling over! And Aiden is a typical 5yr old boy - he doesn't want any "cheesy" pictures taken of him. Sheesh!

I was able to get a few pics of Allie though. Here she is at 4.5mo





She is now on some solids, and it's working great for us! She's a big eater and I just couldn't keep up with her! I would be stuck in the house every day, on the couch, feeding her! She did great with the cereal and breastmilk! We then introduced sweet potatoes, which she loves, and the newest that we have started is bananas. She gets them for breakfast. I just mash up 1/4 banana and mix in some of her oatmeal, and we're good to go! We're making our own baby food this time around! It's easy, fun, and so much cheaper!!

She's getting better at sitting up, but obviously still needs some help! She's also found her voice! She started babbling a long time ago, but she has now learned the art of screaming, and practices perfecting it all day long. It's hilarious!! She absolutely loves Ai8den too! She just lights up at whatever it is that he's doing. He's just as smitten with her as well!

Last year

Last year at this time I knew I was pregnant, but I hadn't taken a test yet. Tomorrow will be 1yr since I found out we would be expecting Allie. It's also my Mother's birthday!

I remember taking a picture of it and sending it to her via text. I simply said, "Happy Birthday!". She was over the moon, and of course she cried!

And now here we are with our little girl who will also be turning 4 months old tomorrow!

It's so crazy to think how far we've come in a years time. There were plenty of tears shed and still a lot of heartache. The tears still come now, and the heartache is still there, but there is now a happiness that wasn't there before.

I watch my kids and I smile. Then I think of Cameron, and I smile again. I so wish he could be here with them, but I know in my heart that he's here with us everyday. Watching over all of us, making sure Aiden and Allie stay safe.

I had Allie in the office today, and on the bookshelf is Cameron's candle - the one we light every year on October 15th. Well tonight her and I were sitting in there, and hers eyes became fixated on that candle. Then, out of nowhere, she just started smiling, laughing, screaming and cooing! She's been cooing and laughing for a while now, but I have never seen her get so excited! I just smiled and told her that was big brother's candle, and she continued on with the laughing and screaming... :)

What happened to Fall?!

I can't believe Allie is going on 3 months old!! It's crazy, but I love it!

She's just growing up so fast! She can pretty much roll over on her own now. Sometimes, she still needs a bit of help from getting stuck on her side, lol. She's cooing, laughing and babbling so much now, and her newest trick is the ever-so-lovely raspberries! It's so messy, but so adorable!

We finally got both her and Aiden's Halloween costumes, and I cannot wait to get them all dressed up. We chose a little flower costume from Children's Place for Allie, and Aiden wanted to be a vampire this year. I just hope it's not too cold! Our October this year has been awful! The past few days have actually been beautiful, but the first couple of weeks were nothing but rain, super cold air, and gray, cruddy days!

I'm so not ready for Winter to be here! We're already trying not to take Allie out too much which the H1N1 crap floating around. The schools in our little town haven't closed yet, but a lot in the surrounding areas have. They haven't confirmed any cases of H1N1, but a lot of kids were getting sick, and they don't want to take any chances. One of the elementary schools here were sending out permission slips to get the vaccine there at school for their kids. The women I've spoken with aren't getting their children the vaccine. We have yet to receive such a letter from Aiden's school, but no matter. We won't be getting it.

I understand that we're more susceptible to being laid up for a bit, since we really don't have much of an immunity towards the virus, but you know...I really give our bodies more credit than others want to. We're amazing creature with amazing immune systems. I fully intend on handling things the way nature intended. I know it's scary, but I also don't think that it's something our bodies can't handle.

Ok enough about that! I'm soooo tired of hearing "H1N1" coming out of people's mouths no matter where I go! You would think the plague was going around, LOL

Anywho, we're all doing fantastic! That was my main point to this post, lol. I need to head to bed though! Allie fell asleep about 2hrs ago, and should sleep until about 5am. I'm beat, and I've gotta work in the morning, so I need to go get some rest!

10 week pic

Miss Allie and I!

Big brother Aiden took this pic! He loves my camera and is obsessed with going out with me when I take photos!

We started Allie on probiotics today, and I'm hoping to see an improvement with her tummy issues! Stuff is expensive though! It was $22 at the health food store (which I am now in love with btw!!), but if it helps, it'll be worth it!

2.5 months!

Allie had her 2 month appointment, and boy is she growing!!

Our "little" princess is now 13lb and 23". The pediatrician said my milk is definitely doing her good, lol!

She's doing great and is right on track where she should be with everything! She finally mastered rolling over a couple of days ago. Well...I shouldn't say mastered, because there are still quite a few times that she gets stuck on her side. It's so cute, lol!

The Dr. we saw this time around was pretty good about the whole delayed vaccine thing. She wasn't thrilled about it, but she let me know that she would support us and try to be as accommodating as possible. I thanked her for that, and told her that if, for whatever reason, we change our minds, we will let her know.

She's sleeping better at night now, too. She typically goes to bed around 9:30-10:00 and then wakes up about 5:00 to eat. Goes back to sleep around 6:00-6:30, get up around 8:00 to eat again, and then takes a long morning nap until around 11:30. After that, she's pretty much up the rest of the day. She'll take a couple short naps in the late afternoon, but that's about it.

She's laughing, and "talking", and smiling at us all of the time. I absolutely love it! She makes THEE most adorable noises I have ever heard in my entire life. LOL...seriously, when she does it, I just want to squeeze the crap out of her! She's also found her hands which is hilarious. She will lift them in front of her face, and her eyes get all big. Then, you can tell she's trying with everything to get them to her mouth. I'd imagine it's sort of like when a part of your body is numb (think your legs after an epidural), and you can't really feel the control you have, but you know it's there, so you're trying your damndest anyhow. That's what it looks like anyway, lol

So all is well over here! I don't have any 10wk pictures at the moment, but will have some 11wk ones up next week!

Fall is here!!

My favorite time of year! I absolutely love it! Everything is just so beautiful and the weather is perfect. Well, most of the time anyway! It's been a bit colder than I usually like, and little more wet than our typical Fall, but it'll pass - at least I hope!

We went to the orchards this past weekend and had a blast! It was my first time ever going, and I loved it! Aiden had so much fun, and Allie slept most of the time. We got a ton of apples! I also got a lot of great pictures! After we left the orchards, we went up to the market to pay for the apples and check things out. I was little bummed they didn't have any cider ready, but they told us it would be ready in about a week! It's only about 5 minutes away too, so that's a huge plus!

Aiden is getting super excited about Halloween, and will not stop talking about how he can't wait to get his costume. He's decided he's going to be a transformer this year. I swear that boy watched that movie every night, before bed, for about a month straight. He had most of it memorized! lol
As for Allie...I'm not sure. I figure we'll probably do one of those bunting costumes. It just seems easiest for one that little, and a lot warmer than most of these other costumes. Halloween in Michigan can get pretty chilly and nasty, so I figure it'll work best. She'll probably be sleeping the entire time anyway though!

Chev's birthday is on Thursday, so I need to go shop around online and figure out what in the world I'm going to get him!

Relief!

After a lot of reading, a lot of questioning back and forth, and a lengthy discussion with Chev, we have reached a decision which we feel is best for our family.

While a part of me would be just as happy not getting her vaxed at all, I don't feel that it's necessarily for us. So, we've decided to delay her vaccines until she's older. We will then get her titers to see if she has built up any immunities on her own. Once those results come back, we will pick and choose which vaccines she will receive and how we want them spaced out.

I'm listening to my gut on this one. I've never been wrong before, and I don't want to go against it now - especially when it has something to do with my children. A girl on my birth board posted about her decision to delay after her friends baby died within hours of receiving her vaccines a few days ago. These little things keep popping up and grabbing my attention, and I think there's a reason for that. Not that I necessarily feel like Allie will die if I get her vaxed right now, but there's something telling me that something would go wrong if I do.

The next step is actually getting the pediatrician to be on board with us. If not, oh well. We find a new one! I already know of a guy that does it. He doesn't "recommend" it, but he fully supports a parents decision to do what they want for THEIR child. Friends of our don't vax or medicate AT ALL, and he's on board with their plan. I say if he can do theirs, he'll be more than happy to work with us!

You can't imagine the weight that has been lifted off of my shoulders. For a while, I was thinking I was just being paranoid. I would look at myself, Chev, and the hundreds of kids I run into every day, and think how they are absolutely fine. I would then try talking myself into atleast getting her the DTaP vax. That didn't last long. Slowly but surely, that horrible feeling would start creeping back in. That's when I knew we had to decide something! Once we came to an agreement about delaying until she's older, that horrible feeling went away and I'm much more confident about how we're going to do things.

Who knows...maybe these feelings are Cameron watching out for his little sister, and making sure nothing bad ever happens to her. :)