My ladybug pillow pet. I know it says age 3+
but who says I can't take it for a little ride?
Man, I love that song. Now that Christmas is over does that mean we are not going to sing it anymore? What will I do? Someone better teach me another song and stat! Until then, I will pass my time by updating you all on my Christmas. I am going to warn you in advance that there were so many cute pictures taken that I have put a record number on this post.
All I can say is Wow. I traveled a total of 750 miles in the car, crazy huh? The craziest part was I only was awake 10 miles out of it. That backseat is just like the swing to me...no matter how hard I may want to stay awake...I just can't do it. Let's backtrack a bit. Mom and Dad decided last minute to pull an audible and leave Wed. night when they were done with work. I guess they thought I would do better with a 3 hour drive to Lincoln instead of the full trip to Hartington on Thursday. I really think I would be fine either way, but I didn't fight it. It meant I got to spend some unexpected time with Grandma Janice and Marley got to stay there with her and Sadie. Apparently the cold temps of Northern NE are not Marley's favorite. That and the overwhelming amounts of people. That's right.... a LOT of people. My first day there was fairly low key. I got to see Aunt Rhonda first and then a few people here and there showed up to say hi. Now the next day, Christmas Eve, was where it got interesting. I had 22 different people (cousins, uncles, aunts, etc) there and I am pretty sure every single one of them held me. I actually thought it was pretty fun and did a lot of talking to them all, and of course I flashed my pretty smile to them quite a bit. I know what they want, a smile keeps them coming back for more. : )
with my cousins Jay, Danielle, Mallorie, Siera, & Jason
So many presents that it makes the tree look small.
Gabby gave me this cool outfit
Everyone was so nice to me, even Aunt Rhonda after I had a bit of a blowout incident all over her early in the day. It was a very long day.... around 6pm we finally got to grab some food so we could start the celebration. We sang a happy birthday to Jesus and I was hanging out on someones lap when all of a sudden that Santa guy showed up at grandma and grandpas house! Who would have thought! I met him a couple weeks back, I didn't know I would get to see him again all the way up North. I guess he does find you wherever you are. I took a quick picture with him, but I wanted to share him because I could tell my cousin Jay was chomping at the bit to share his Christmas list with him, just in case he hadn't got it yet. After Santa left Aunt Rhonda decided all the kids needed to play a game to see who started opening all the presents. (When I say ALL the presents...I am not kidding. I think I will post a picture of the tree so you can see. No recession here!). Anyway, I am still a bit too small to join in those festivities. They were doing some loud crazy things with balloons, kleenex boxes, and ping pong balls (ala "Minute to Win It"). I really should have taken a picture, but I was just trying to get away from all the popping sounds. I snuck away and found my Uncle Brian to sit on. One minute I was watching people open presents, the next I was in dreamland. Until mom and dad woke me up to open some presents myself. I got lots of really nice things including some super sweet outfits that I can't wait to wear (and some Broncos booties that are really warm but dad says are not to be worn) - to toys - to a really special ornament to hang on the tree. My cousin Gabby had my name so she got me a Santa dress. it was time for my bath so I headed out, but not before trying it on to show off my holiday cheer for everyone.
Grandma Kay, Will, & me!
I fell asleep on Jack - he was so comfy
I don't look thrilled but I love Eric!
Christmas AM we headed back to Lincoln to spend more time with Grandma Janice. She had lots of presents for me, I really think hanging out with her and talking was enough, but who am I to turn down some super cool toys. Right now the $.50 sponge ball is probably my favorite, but I am looking forward to some of the others soon enough! When we were in Lincoln, we also got to go up and see Grandpa McLain. This was the first time I had seen him since his heart surgery, he looked really good. He even showed us his battle scars...they really look like they would hurt. Dad's thumb doesn't look so bad anymore.
Grandma Janice made me this blanket!
Hanging out with Grandpa McLain
We made it back home in time to enjoy some quality time together AND to play with my new toy that Santa brought. That's right...I may have seen him in Hartington, but he also made it back here to KC with a brand new exersaucer. Apparently Santa thinks I need to spend less time on my back with my activity gym and more time sitting up and playing. It is pretty sweet, but I am still a bit short for it...so dad found a pillow for me to use as a booster until I add an inch or so.
1st Christmas as a family
So as you can see, I had a great Christmas. I think mom and dad did too especially because amidst all the chaos, I was able to keep on my schedule for the most part. I guess that is a good thing. Speaking of schedules...almost time for my nightly 8 pm bath. Amelia OUT!
Well another week down, I am feeling like a pro at daycare. I get along great with everyone and I started eating like crazy. The other day I put down 7 oz., that's right seven. Last Friday mom had to pick me up from daycare, because dad tried to cut his finger off at work. He was unsuccessful but mom was still not happy with him. He wants to put a picture of it in here but I will not let him ruin my blog, it is really gross. There is talk of this Christmas thing coming up. Birth of someone named Jesus, dad tells me he is going to teach me all about this guy in the future, but he sounds pretty cool and popular. What I get out of Christmas now is a long ride in the car. We will be going up to Grandma and Grandpa Steffen's house, which will be the longest ride I have taken yet.(Prayers welcome) Then on the way back down we are going to stop at Grandma Janice's house for more Christmas - that is the plan for now at least. I am sure we are going to swing over and make sure Grandpa Mclain is recovering okay from his heart surgery too. I am excited to see all of them, I just hope for mom and dad's sake that I stay on my schedule. Oh did I forget to tell you I am sleeping through the night, and by through the night I mean 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sorry I am getting off track, back to what has happened since I last sent an update. Last weekend I met mom's friend Sarah P who apparently has TWO babies in her tummy. WOW! We even all went out to dinner one night for some Mexican which of course was awesome. I was cool staring around for the first 30 min's but then got a bit bored and let everyone know. Luckily dad eats fast, so he walked me around a bit. That is all I wanted of course! Then Sunday we went over to the Bodenstabs for my first Christmas party. I got to see a few of my friends and meet a couple new kids. It was an 'ugly sweater' party, all of my clothes are super cute and far from ugly, so I told mom that I would just wear my pretty Christmas sweater dress for the occasion. I think I looked pretty good, can't say much for mom and dad though.
Mmm..mexican! Like my super cute coat? P.S. Check out dad's bandaged finger!
The rest of last week was just the usual fun until Thursday when we had some visitors again! It is the NCAA Women's volleyball tournament, so Aunt Brenda, Grandma and grandpa Steffen, and my cousins Bailey and Gabby came down for some games. (I was hoping to go, but once I found out NE choked and didn't make it, I figured why bother with the crowds.) They all stayed at our house and actually fit, but that didn't last long because Grandma and grandpa left quickly on Friday because aunt Rachelle slipped on some ice and broke her wrist and banged her face up pretty good. We are sorry to hear that and can't wait to give her a big hug on Christmas. Friday night we all went out to eat at the Cheesecake factory. I did pretty good, but sorry no pictures, mom has been pretty sick so she is not on top of her game. I think she brought more home from daycare than just me. Dad is freaking out about all of these colds coming from daycare. We will survive though. She started feeling better finally today though so she took some pictures of everyone AND we went on a walk. That's right it was a pretty balmy day here (for December!).
All right, beauty sleep is needed as I need to get ready for all of the upcoming Christmas festivities. Yay! Amelia OUT!
Well I have made it through another week of daycare. Of course, I think I caught a bit of a cold because my nose is stuffy quite a bit. Let me tell you, that makes eating quite a bit harder. I'm trying to hold dad back from going after the infected culprit at school, last thing I want is to be the outcast. I think I'll be OK. All in all, I am getting pretty use to it there, but I am still always excited and happy to go home when dad picks me up. Today mom picked me up because dad hurt himself at work and was getting fixed up at the doctor. Mom said it was so nice for this time of year that we had to go on a walk with Marley, she was right.
On Monday I hit another big milestone. 3 months old....boy does time fly. (Be sure to check out my page on the right to see how I have grown over the months!) I decided to mark my entry into another month by starting to wake up in the early hours of the AM to make mom feed me more all week. She didn't seem particularly thrilled, but she is the one that wants me to grow. Give and take lady!
As I am awake more these days, I find it funny watching mom and dad try to entertain me. One of my most favorite things to do right now is sing with dad. We have been singing a lot of Christmas carols. I particularly enjoy Deck the Halls....fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la... They have been trying to catch my great singing voice on camera, but the lights mesmerize me and stop me in my tracks. They did get one tonight, but we really need to work on the lighting in the house. (excuse the poor lighting, I'll be sure they make it a bit brighter for future videos!) It's better than the video I was going to put in from last Saturday when I was helping mom cheer on the Huskers in the Big 12 game. I thought I did pretty good, but apparently that enthusiasm didn't travel to TX. Oh well, next year I will get my cheering down much better for a season in the Big 10.
In order of oldest to youngest (me, Ava, & Violet)
Last night was a fun one as I got to meet up with my pals and mom and dad's small group friends. It always seems that a few people can't make it last minute so we missed them. One of the people gone was Ryder, so yet again we didn't get all 4 of us kiddos together. It was just the girls. : ) Ava must have got the signals I was sending her as mom was dressing me, because when we got to her house she was wearing the same shirt. Although, a little different as I guess she is wearing in the next size up. I'll try to send stronger signals to Violet next time so she can get in on the action. Of course we took another photo op, order from oldest to youngest. As you can see, they are still both bigger than me...but I'm over it. I could always catch up with them one day, but they will never catch me in age. Look who will be driving 3 days before you...ha!
All right my first full week is beginning to catch up to me, I'm going down... Amelia O-U-T.
I LOVE my bathtime every night!
Like my hat? It's from Grandma McLain. Mom says I look Scottish!
Man oh man did I have a big week. The week started out rough, but ended exciting. I started daycare on Tuesday, not bad for me, but mom and dad did not take it as well. I put some pictures in to show you how sad mom was about the whole thing. She did not want to let me go once we got to daycare. She was glad that she had a twenty minute drive to work to dry her tears. It didn't work because people at work were comforting her. I really don't mind daycare, I do a lot of the same things I did with mom and my teachers seem pretty nice. They take a picture of me every day to send to mom and dad, so I try to smile pretty so they continue to miss me. After the first day I was a little cranky when I got home, because I am not used to getting the bottle that much. Dad went and picked up some gas medicine for me, and I was feeling great the rest of the week. Mom was not that happy of a camper about how much they were feeding me. She said she did not work 12 weeks to let them have me snack on an ounce or two, but she talked to them the next day and we got back on track. On a great note I slept through the night the whole week, actually mom and dad woke me up before I wanted to. So I returned the favor Fri and Sat night by waking up at 5. I was just so hungry. I may be on a bit of a growth spurt, which is a good thing. Apparently, I am not packing on the weight like mom wants me too, but I feel that I am growing at my own pace. Mom didn't believe me so she took me to the doctor on Friday to make sure that I was Ok. I am growing in height (up to 23 inches) which is still 50% in height. I have also packed on some pounds, well actually not quite a pound, since last month (10lbs 6 oz) which knocks me down to the 10 percentile for weight. They say it is ok though so to stop worrying. I think it is from all the kicking that I do. I also lose a few ounces with all the spitting up I do. Sometimes more than others, as you can see in the picture. : )
The weekend was pretty great. Jeremy & Kellie came over to visit and eat some BBQ with mom and dad. Dad gave me a bath in front of them, I'm not sure how I feel about being naked in front of people but I got over it for now. The week ended super exciting because on Saturday morning I got to go to mom's work and meet someone very special. Santa! They are trying to tell me about how cool of a guy he is, and how he brings presents to good kids. But I'm not too worried, I just thought he was nice and super warm. I liked his outfit too!
