Alexis' First Trip To The Park As Well As Some Other Randomness...

Today Derek and I decided to take Alexis to the park and put her on her first "real" swing. Alexis really loved being on the swing, it was a little cold but we had her all bundled up :) I also went down the slide with Alexis and she seemed to really enjoy it.

My mom and my little brother "baby" came with us and we all had a good time. Afterwards we came back to our place and my dad came over and we picked up my other brothers and went out for lunch :) It was nice to see my dad and spend some time with him.

Alexis has been doing so many new things lately! She has been doing her pageant wave a lot and is shaking her head no, which is probably the cutest thing ever! We've started to give Alexis table food and she is loving it. We did the first time a couple of days ago, we went to Cafe Rio and I gave her some the beans, rice, tortilla, and meat in my salad, she made some funny faces I'm sure because she wasn't used to the texture but after a couple of bites she was loving it! Alexis also tried some of Derek's backed potato and bread; I can tell she is loving this new food.

Now that Derek and I have moved back to Southern California we have been talking a lot more about what our plans for the near future are. We have always had a "plan" but we are trying to really get it set now. It made me think about it even more today when I was talking to my dad and he reminded me that Derek and I should be trying to get into a house, in this down housing market, and of course I agree and that's one of the things that we are wanting to do within the next 2 years, especially now that I am at a career style job. Derek and I want to pay off our debts (all except for my school loans of course those will take some time) and start saving for a down payment and hopefully in the next year and a half we can get into a home. Derek is going to start going back to school either in the summer or fall and hopefully he can finish his AA in a year maybe a year and a half and then transfer to a university and finish his degree; He's looking into getting a BA in HR. I'm going to be working and once Derek is done with school I plan on going back to get my Masters in Clinical Psychology, while I continue to work as a behavior therapist.

There are 49 more days till Alexis' birthday!!!

P.S. One of my best friends is pregnant and she just found out she is having a girl! I am so excited Alexis is going to have a little cousin in July and a playmate in August, granted Alexis will be a year older but once they get older she'll be able to play with them more.

Alexis' Firsts.

So there are a couple of things that I have been meaning to do with Alexis for a while now, this would be some firsts.

We have been meaning to get her ears pierced since she was like 3 months but we kept putting it off and now we're cutting it close. They say that if you are going to pierce an infants ears you need to do it before they turn 1 otherwise the pain will be a lot worse for them so I'm hoping we can go next month and get them done for her. I'm excited for her :)

One of the other things we were supposed to do was cut Alexis' hair, mostly her bangs. We were going to do it in the beginning of February; Derek and I got haircuts so we were going to get hers done too but the stylist told me that I should just do it myself and that it would be a waste of money to pay her to do it, so we didn't. I'm too chicken to cut her hair myself because I don't want to mess it up, so we didn't.

I moved back down to Southern California that weekend and the following week went to the doctor with my mom and little brother because my brother had sprained his ankle. One of the flabotomist at the doctors office saw Alexis and was like obsessed with her for the whole 5 hours we were there so when she heard me telling my mom about cutting her hair she was like "OMG, don't cut her hair, her little hairstyle is sooo cute." I will admit it is ridiculously cute, when her bangs stay swept to the side and they always seem to be when we go out, so everyone tells me the same thing, not to cut her hair. When Derek brought Alexis into my last day of work at the school all my coworkers were telling me not to cut her hair so I guess there is a consensus, and I agree. For the longest time I think I felt I needed to cut her hair because at some point babies need their first haircut but I definitely think she looks amazing with the long hair and her first haircut can wait till later :)

Alexis has this really cute bathing suit that she hasn't been able to wear yet. I am really hoping to get her to the beach maybe next weekend and get her to atleast wear it once, so it doesn't go to waste, then we can store it for when we have another girl :) So that would be Alexis first time in a bathing suit and at the beach, well a warm beach, San Francisco beaches hardly count ;)

Also when Derek gets down here this weekend we are going to take Alexis to the park to get on her first real swing. I am sooo excited for that!

Derek has been apart from me and Alexis for 6 weeks, granted we saw him 3 or so weeks ago when we had Alexis' doctor's appointment, but it's not the same. I've missed him sooo much and I know Alexis has too, I'm excited for us to be together again and never have to be apart like this again!

Alexis' 1st birthday dress?

I should be sleeping but I'm not tired lol.I think I may have found Alexis' birthday dress. I wasn't sure what type of dress I wanted for her first birthday, and I know a lot of people do the tutu dress thing for a first birthday. I wasn't sure if I wanted a tutu style dress only because all of the ones I had seen were too much. I was researching dresses today and was on Etsy(I love Etsy!!), and I found this cute dress and I think this is what I want for her birthday dress :)

I also was looking at different shoes and OMG one of the shops I found on Etsy has the cutest shoes, i seriously want all of them! I found the perfect shoes that would match this dress perfectly!

I'm so excited for her birthday to be coming up. It's crazy to think that it's almost been a year since I was last pregnant and had my little baby. I'm just excited because I found the perfect invitations the other night and now I've found the perfect dress and shoes!!!I know the next 50 or so days are going to be stressful with all the birthday planning, but it will be exciting. May is going to be a juggling act because of Alexis' birthday, my brothers high school graduation, atleast one baby shower and having to fly up to Chico for Alexis' doctor's appointment. Well that is it for now. I just had to share!

Serious Update Time!

Finally I am blogging about everything that has been going on.

Moving:
So Derek and I at first were planning on moving back to Utah, but after lots of thought and consideration we decided that moving back to Southern California would be the best thing, for lots of reasons. We both knew that Southern California is were we wanted to settle, so moving to Utah and then after a couple of years moving back to California would just be a hassle, so we cut the middle part out. Derek wasn't going to be able to transfer right away but we decided that I would quit and move down here with Alexis first and then Derek would join us later on. Derek will be transferring on the 23rd, so a little under 2 weeks!!! We moved me and Alexis down here on February 4th and then on the 23rd Alexis and I flew up to Sacramento for her pediatrician appointment, more on her flight later. That weekend we drove down with all our stuff in a UHaul and Derek flew back up to Sacramento Monday :( We are all settled into our place. For the moment we are living in Rialto, borderline Fontana, hopefully within a year we will be moving to Orange County.

Work:
In Sacramento I was working as an educational aide with children that have autism. So I really wanted to work in the same field here, but actually using my degree and getting paid on that level. I found a job as a Behavior Therapist for an awesome company in Orange County; I'm still in the training phase but it's a little different from my last job because instead of being in a classroom setting, I will be going to family's homes and working with them and their children. I am excited to finally be in a career job with growth opportunities and good pay, and excited because it is in Orange County which will make our eventual move easier :)

Family:
It is so nice to be near my family again. My mom is like a 5 minute drive from us which is great when I need her to watch Alexis for me. Also my brother and his girlfriend are sharing a townhome with us, which is nice because being able to split rent and bills gives Derek and I an opportunity to save money and pay off some debt we really need to get rid of. Alexis loves spending time with my parents and my brothers so it's nice to be able to spend time together as a family :)

And last but not least Alexis:Alexis is amazing. I was a little afraid she wouldn't be super receptive to my family since she hasn't seen them since she was 3 months old; But the second we got here she was all smiles and loves spending time with everybody, especially my mom and youngest brother. She is also very fond of my dad :)

Alexis got to go on her first flight on the 23rd and she was perfect! Also everyone was sooo sweet to me. The lady who checked me in was so helpful and when I went through security, the girl infront told me I could go in front of her and helped me move my bag onto the belt :)

My plan for the flight was to feed Alexis during take off, so it would help with her ears popping and then to do the same during the landing, or get her to sleep. I boarded the plane with the A group so I pretty much had my choice of where to sit, so I decided to sit all the way in the back in the aisle seat. I decided to make Alexis' bottle before it got to full and I ran out of room, but the second she saw her bottle she wanted it so I fed her hoping we would take off soon but she finished her bottle right before take off, but lucky for me she didn't mind. She was wide awake the whole time and she seemed to like the take off. She didn't cry or whine once, she was literal perfection. She was smiling at everyone and one of the flight attendants even gave her a little certificate for her first flight and the little southwest airline wings. I was pretty impressed with her, not that I ever doubted her :) Getting off the plane all this sweet lady was like, "Oh my gosh I didn't even know there was a baby on the plane, what a perfect little girl." It was nice to have people be so nice to you on a plane with a baby when I hear so many horror stories about people being rude to people that fly with babies. We were soooo excited to see Derek! We all hugged and kissed and that night drove to Chico, since her appointment was early the next morning.

Alexis did not have to get any shots at her 9 month appointment :) Dr. Brown let us know that Alexis' weight is progressing but it's not where she thought it would be so she's hoping that it will pick up these next 3 months before she turns one.

Alexis loves sitting up and she is always smiling and such a chatterbox. I just bought her, her first sippy cup and she loves it. For now I'm just giving her water, I really don't want to introduce juice or anything sweet like that for a long time, it just is not necessary to give little kids juice so I feel no need to now. Alexis has a pretty set feeding schedule: she wakes up in the morning and gets 6oz bottle of formula, has some oatmeal and fruit and through out the day has 4oz along with some vegetables and cherrios every couple of hours, and at night gets another 6oz bottle and some fruit. I've been giving her some finger foods here and there but for the most part she is all over the solids. Alexis is not yet crawling but she is getting there, I'm excited for her to start but I'm also a little sad because that means she is getting older and she won't be a little baby anymore :(

Birthday! Birthday! Birthday!So Alexis' birthday is almost 2 months away, so it's time to kick it into high gear. No more pinteresting ideas, it's time to actually put them into action. I'm soooo excited for her 1st birthday!!!!

Well that is all I can think of for now, but this is long enough anyway so enjoy!