Seriously 45 Minute Wait Time!?!?

I love everything travel. I love making reservations, putting itineraries together, packing...literally everything travel related. What I don't like is calling an airline and hearing that the wait time is 45 minutes. I don't have an option so I am actually waiting, and this airline doesn't have that cool feature that Southwest does where you leave your number and they just call you back. That feature is a life saver! But no Spirit Airlines does not have this feature.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, there is a reason why their flights are so cheap. I really shouldn't complain because this flight from LAX to Vegas cost me $28. For those of you who aren't familiar with Spirit or have never flown through them, the way they keep their flights cheap is by charging you for every little extra thing. They charge for checked bags, for choosing a seat and depending on where it is the cost varies, printing your boarding pass at the Port, and such things. When Derek and I flew through Spirit from Florida to Puerto Rico, for our honeymoon, we didn't really mind all the charges and what not. Well I was really trying to make this flight as cheap as possible so I wasn't going to check a bag in and just bring everything as a carry on so I wouldn't have to pay the $28 for my checked bag. I also didn't pick a seat because if you don't pick a seat when you show up to the airport and check in they assign one to you randomly and it's free. The nice thing that they do, that I know for sure Southwest also does and I'm sure other major airlines do as well, they let me check in the car seat for free and they don't count the diaper bag against me as a personal item, so I can still bring something else with me on the plane as a personal item, for free. I didn't check thoroughly when I first booked my flight and I came to realize yesterday that they charge you for a carry on, ugh so annoying. So I decided to just check in the bag, the price for a carry on is $30 and the price to check in a bag is $28, it's cheaper to check in and I don't have to carry my suitcase around so I figured I would just check it in. Well I go online tonight to do this and it's not giving me the option to add baggage on my reservation! So annoying. So I call and this is where the 45 minute wait comes in. Ummm ya I called them earlier today to verify some stuff about Alexis and I waited for like 3 minutes, this is crazy. Also on top of all that I try to check in online 24 hours before and come to find I can't, also come to find that if you print your boarding pass at the airport, instead of printing it yourself at home, they charge $5 per customer. So when I called early I asked about this and was told that I wasn't eligible to check in online because I have Alexis as a lap passenger so I have to check in at the counter. So annoying so now I have to pay at least $5 for the boarding pass maybe even $10 if they give me one for Alexis.

The reason I haven't hung up yet is because it's cheaper if you reserve online as opposed to paying for it the day of at the airport, by like $10, but still $10 is a lot to me now a days. This is extremely frustrated, but like i said I did get the flight for $28. My flight from Las Vegas to SLC was free :) because I had a $69 credit through Southwest, the flight from Vegas to SLC was exactly $69, that is why I am flying through Spirit out of LAX because it was so cheap and the whole trip is coming out to less than $60, so I'm trying not to complain too much but it's hard when I've been on hold all this time.

I really hope that Alexis handles these flights the way she handled her first one. She was soooooooo perfect so I'm hoping she'll be a little angel this time around too. You never know though, she is teething like crazy and wants to be crawling all over the place so she might not be such a happy baby this time. I believe in her though ;)

Well here is a picture of Alexis helping me pack ;) hopefully I can get this done soon so I can finish packing and getting everything ready for tomorrow.

12 Month Pedi Appt

Alexis had her 12 month pedi appt yesterday. I get really excited about her pedi appointments; I love checking up on how she's doing and love being able to ask her pedi whatever questions I may have.

Well, there was another round of vaccines, she was also supposed to get the chicken pox vaccine but they were all out so she will have to wait and she also was supposed to do a skin test, but because Monday is Memorial day they wouldn't be able to check back in 3 days to see the results, so we will have to do that at her 15 month appt. Alexis got a fluoride treatment done on her teeth. Alexis also had to have some blood drawn to do a lead test. She was such a trooper, like always. She hardly cried during her shots and her blood being drawn. Hopefully she will grow up to be like her mommy and enjoy having blood drawn and getting shots lol I know weird but it actually tickles.

Stats:
Well Alexis weighed in at 17 lbs 1oz; She was 14lbs on her last visit. I was hoping she would be 18 lbs but I knew that would be a stretch. She is 27 inches long. Her weight and height are under the 5th percentile. The pediatrician said that we can switch to whole milk and start having her do three big meals a day. She let me know that I should make a dental appointment for Alexis now and also she thinks that we should start giving Alexis more fatty foods, because of the whole being below the 5th percentile thing; she told me to drizzle butter and cheese on her veggies and that if I give Alexis pancakes, which I don't, to put lots of butter and syrup on them.

Here is a sort of rant about this...
I understand that she is under weight. She was premature 3 1/2 weeks and weighed 4lbs 6oz, so yes she is small. I've always felt that as long as she's eating and growing, even if it's slowly and at her own rate, that i am happy if she's healthy. Derek and I both have our own parenting style when it comes to her feeding, that I'm sure lots of other parents do; We don't give her sweets, juice, or anything that isn't of nutritional benefit to her. Alexis has never had juice and she has never had anything fried. Alexis' first taste of sweets, was on her 1st birthday with her cupcake and it was a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and she took a couple of bites. Nothing against parents who want to give their kids juice and sweets, but there is no nutritional benefit, ya she might like it but there are other ways that I can make her happy besides giving her some sugar.

That being said, that doesn't mean that she'll never have sweets; We may start giving her watered down juice when she's 1 1/2, more likely 2, but for now we see no reason too. This is why I feel like this whole weight obsession is crazy. I know she is healthy and is eating right and she isn't starving, so what if she's small for her age? Derek and I do not want to encourage obesity, I feel very strongly about this because Derek seems to have a fat gene and I don't want to encourage that and neither does he, especially if it passed on to Alexis; Maybe she will be lucky and get my families crazy metabolism, except I didn't get that wonderful metabolism, I actually have to work out and eat healthy. I used to be a stick before I hit puberty, and then came the hips and butt lol maybe Alexis will be the same. Though it looks like she already has the butt ;)
Honestly, had Alexis been on time she would have barely been 5 lbs anyway. I was a 5 lb baby and all of my brothers were at the biggest 7 lbs, so why should Alexis be expected to be bigger, just because the average child is bigger?

So we don't feel like feeding her pancakes with syrup is the best way to go about it. We will put a little bit of butter and cheese on her veggies and we will continue to give her baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, tortillas, rice, beans, watermelon, pineapple...etc. We think she can continue to gain weight in a healthy way.

On another note, Alexis is lifting herself up to stand! She is holding on to things to lift herself up, but that means she is getting closer and closer to taking her first steps! She crawls all over, she has gotten really fast. Alexis is pure perfection and I love her so so much. I still can't believe that 1 year and 12 days ago I had the privilege of bringing Alexis into this world. I look at Alexis and see so much of myself and it makes me so proud and happy to be able to be a role model and inspiration to her and I know Derek feels that same way. But it is a little bit different for a mom ya know?

Love my little mini me :)))

Alexis' 1st Birthday Party

I have been pretty busy/sick since Alexis' birthday so I hadn't really thought about sitting down and blogging about it. Well I am really sick now and since I have nothing else to do but sit here I figured now is the perfect time.

We celebrated Alexis' birthday on Saturday the 19th. The party was at Shakey's Pizza :) We were running a little late because when we stopped to get the balloons inflated, the lady was taking forever! I was a little irritated by that, but we got all that done and headed over to the restaurant.

Like I said before we were keeping the party small, my parents, brothers, my older brother girlfriend as well as my brother Alex's girlfriend, and my closest friends were there. My best friend Kathy couldn't make it because she had to work and my good friend Ivan, who lives in Texas, was here in California that weekend and was supposed to come to the party but he wasn't able to :( We had about 15 people, I didn't invite my extended family only because we couldn't reserve a bigger party and I don't have a huge house or backyard to have the party at, hopefully for her 2nd birthday we'll be able to have a bigger party.

We set up the high chair and got her banner and the balloons tied up to it and I ordered food and drinks and just chatted it up with everyone while we waited. Before my friend Magaly got there, her mom came over and was like "do you remember me?" it was kind of weird because i did but it took me a second, it just so happens she was there with her husband eating. She loved Alexis lol I'm luckyI got her back ;) when Magaly finally showed up it was funny to see the look of surprise on her face to see her mom with Alexis.

We put all the gifts on one of the tables and all ate and enjoyed our food. Alexis was such a sweetheart and she loved taking pictures with everybody. My friend Amandalyn, who is pregnant, held Alexis for a little bit and it was so funny to see Alexis staring at her, almost like she knew she was pregnant. Babies definitely pick up on those things. After we ate some yummy pizza, chicken, and mojos, we had them bring out the cakes. We lit the little candle on Alexis' cupcake and Derek and I blew it out for her; she was trying so hard to reach the candle. We take the candle off and let Alexis eat her cupcake. The cupcake was her first taste of sugar and you could tell, she got so hyper after eating the frosting. I got her a carrot cake with creme cheese frosting. I didn't want her to have anything too sweet, she loved it. We bought a big cake for everyone else, it was a marble cake with strawberry creme, it was so good. After the cake Alexis got really sleepy, I think she was crashing from the sugar rush. So she fell asleep and wasn't able to open her presents at the restaurant. We bought the presents back to the house and once she woke up she opened them up :) She got a ton of cool toys from everybody, a gift card, and some cute clothes from her aunt Kathy, who came by as she was opening up her presents.

I had such a good time on her birthday and I'm glad that everyone came and had a good time. I know Alexis loved seeing everyone ;) she loves attention. I'm so thankful for all the cool gifts she got. Here are some pictures :)

Enjoy!

P.S. Alexis looked amazing in her birthday outfit. Alexis is so beautiful, just like her momma ;)

Little Fevers :(

Alexis has had a fever since Sunday night. She woke up at 1 in the morning crying and she was hot to the touch. Over the last couple of days I've been monitoring her temperature, giving her medicine, giving her warm baths, and making sure she is hydrated with lots of water and formula. I just found out today that she has another little tooth coming out next to her two bottom teeth, which seems to be the culprit of her fever. I am assuming it's the teething because it's happened before, but she also has been having a runny nose too.

Times like these I am so appreciative of certain products :)

Alexis is doing better. She has had a high temp of 102, which was the other day but it's been going down and coming back up periodically, nothing to be really alarmed about, yet. She has her 12 month Dr. Appt this Friday, so I will be checking with her Dr. to make sure I'm doing everything I should be about this fever, if it doesn't go away by then. I am really excited for her visit because I really want to know what her progress is with her weight and I have a ton of questions to ask about what her feeding should be like from here on out. I really want to know if I should continue with the formula or switch to whole cows milk as well as a ton of other stuff.

I know I need to post about her birthday. I promise that will come soon.

Moving At The End of The Month?

I figured I would blog about this now before the next week and a half is consumed with packing and spending time with my family.

Derek and I have moved a lot in the last 2 years. We moved from UT to Southern California for me to go to Law School, when that didn't work out we moved to Chico for a couple of months, then to Sacramento for 6 months and now I am in Southern California and we've been here for 4 months. This was supposed to be our last move. I'm from Southern California and this is where we wanted to settle and raise our family. Even though I do think it's crazy that we have moved around so much the last two years, I know that this move is going to be the best thing for us right now.

I have a great job. Alexis loves being around my family and they love being able to see her everyday. However, Derek has better job opportunities and growth in Utah at the moment and as a family we have to do what is right for us. Both Derek and I have to have good jobs, not just me. Even though I am heartbroken to leave California I do feel that this is the best thing for us right now. California's economy right now is really bad and if we could ride that out living in Utah for 5 years I know that we can come back and be in a better place later.

Derek has been working in Utah for the last month. I put in my two weeks notice at my job and my last day will be next Tuesday. I am so extremely sad to be leaving my job. Creative Solutions for Hope is such a great company to work for. I loved working as a behavioral therapist, especially for this company, my supervisor and the rest of the therapist on my teams are so great, and my kiddos are amazing. I loved being able to use my psychology degree and do a job that I really love. I've looked into being a behavioral therapist in Utah, but it would be a serious pay cut and it just wouldn't be worth it at this point. Also, as much as I love my job it does suck that I have to work weekends. Especially now that Alexis is one I want to have weekends as our time to go out and do things as a family, especially since she will probably start walking within the next couple of months.

I am especially sad to be leaving because Alexis spends so much time with my parents and my brothers. In Utah Derek and I don't have any family, so Alexis will not be near any family and that makes me sad. It especially makes me sad because I want her to continue to be super close to my family and it has been so nice to have my mom and dad to also speak Spanish to Alexis and not just me. However, I will definitely be coming down to visit at least once a month and will be sure to make plans for my family to come out and visit us. Especially with Alexis' cousin being due in July, I want them to be as close as possible :)

Derek came down this weekend for Alexis' birthday party(which I will blog about in a separate post). Derek took a ton of our stuff with him back to Utah yesterday. Alexis and I will be flying out of LAX next Wednesday. We are flying from LAX to Las Vegas and from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City. I am so glad not to have to do the drive to Utah. Alexis was so perfect for her first flight I hope that for these next two she will be just as perfect :)

That is all for now. I will post about Alexis' 1st birthday in the next couple of days. I have my brothers high school graduation on Thursday and work the rest of the week, so hopefully I will post sooner than later.

Alexis is a Toddler!?!?

It feels weird to think of Alexis as a toddler. But that is what she is now, she is officially a year and a day old :)

Well even though yesterday was her birthday, we didn't have anything planned since we will be having her birthday party this Saturday. However, my dad called yesterday and wanted to have dinner. He decided to order some food to bring to the house and we all had dinner together and we watched the game. Alexis loved the food and had a great time spending her birthday with my parents and her uncles :)

My dad left and me, my mom, and my brother Alex went to Target and Party City to buy the plates, napkins, balloons, and candle for Alexis' birthday party. I can't even tell you how happy and excited I am about her birthday party.

Alexis' dress and her high chair banner came in the mail today!!! They are so unbelievably cute! I will also be picking up the shoes in Orange County on Wednesday. Here are some pictures of the wonderful packages I received today.

I think the headband is really cute but headbands don't really stay on her head because of all the hair she has, I swear headbands are for bald babies. It's a clip on a headband, so if I want I can just take the clip off and use it on it's own but I feel like it looks really big without the headband. We'll see what I end up deciding on that.

Also here is a picture of the invite! I blacked out my information and the address of the party for privacy reasons.

I'm beyond excited for Alexis' birthday and so happy that everything is coming together perfectly.

There are several traditions that I want to uphold and some that I (we) want to start with Alexis. My mom always on the morning of my birthday woke me up playing Las Mananitas, it is a song that people play for birthdays as well as other occasions, mostly birthdays though. I didn't really think much of it growing up, I enjoyed the song and know it by heart lol because I've heard it so much. Playing this for Alexis on the morning of her birthday is a tradition that I want to keep. I played it for her this morning, she woke up and went back to bed lol I think she liked it. I also want to start the tradition of writing her a letter on her birthday every year, maybe till she turns 18. I wrote her a letter and sealed it in an envelope for her to open when she turns 18, along with the other ones she'll have.

I went back and read through my belly book and my birth story :) I love having the belly book to look back on and for her to look at and read all of my feelings and what I was going through when I was pregnant and I also love the idea that she will be able to read her birth story someday.

I still can't believe she's one, but I'm excited to continue to watch her grow. She is so beautiful and smart :) I love my Alexis Claire "Bear" Hodges <3

Happy Mother's Day

I had to work today, had one session in Irvine. The session wasn't so bad and it was from 10:30 till 1:30 so I got home and spent time with Alexis and made some dinner with my mom and we all ate and are now just hanging out and watching tv :)

Derek is out of state so we aren't able to celebrate Mother's Day like we should, but I got a sweet message from him this morning :) and I can't wait to see him this Friday!

I've been a mom for almost a whole year, it'll be a year tomorrow actually, and I've loved every minute of it. I always knew that I would be a great mom. I've felt like a mom to my little brothers, especially baby, and I knew that it was going to make me an even better mom when I finally got to that point in my life, and that's exactly what happened :)

Alexis loves me and the look in her eyes when shes laying on me or when I just get home from work, tells me everything I need to know about what a great mom I am. I think it's funny that Alexis' birthday is the day after Mother's Day this year. I was born on Father's Day and was my dad's gift :) It would have been cute if she had been born on Mother's Day too, except not really because she should have been a June baby.

I had felt really stressed out for the last weeks about a ton of different things happening. One of them was planning Alexis' birthday, but now that that is all done It has helped calm my stress. I only need to worry about cake plates, napkins and balloons.

I spent yesterday morning booking flights. I booked a flight out of LA to Las Vegas and from Las Vegas to Salt Lake. I also booked a ticket for Holly from Reno to Salt Lake. I am so relieved to have them out of the way another stress lifted off my shoulders.

This week is going to be an exciting week. My dad wants to take all of us out to dinner tomorrow night, not sure why, maybe because it's Alexis' birthday tomorrow :) Then Saturday we have her birthday party! Derek will be coming in on Friday night and I'm so excited to see him! I don't have much planned for tomorrow, since the celebration for Alexis' birthday will be on Saturday. I'm thinking of taking her to the park if it's a nice day or maybe walk around the mall after or before dinner. She definitely won't be having cake tomorrow, we are saving that for Saturday.

Can you tell I'm excited for her birthday? lol.

Well I just wanted to share that. Enjoy!

Oh The Life of A Working Mother :)

I'm sure as most of you already figured out, today is Friday ;) I am so glad I have today and tomorrow off. I never have two days off in a row. Thanks to my Saturday session being cancelled, I get to have an actual weekend.

Yesterday was the longest day of my life it seems. I got up at 6:30 to feed Alexis and get ready for work. My mom had to work yesterday so she wasn't able to watch Alexis, so I asked my brother Manuel to watch her. So I got up early to feed her, to make things easier.

My first session started at 8 in Riverside so I had to leave around 7:30 and I had to stop and get gas. My first session was over at 10 and then I had a break until I had to be back with the same kiddo at 11:30 to 1:30. I came home on my break and ate something and hung out with Alexis, played with her, changed her, and fed her. My second session that was supposed to only go till 1:30 ended up going till 2:20, which is fine but my next session after that was at 3:30 in Rancho. My plan had been to go home and hang out with Alexis and just relax before my last session but that didn't really work out, there was traffic getting back home and I got home 20 minutes before I had to leave again. I had to do some other things too before I left for my last session. After hanging out at home for 20 minutes I head to my last session and I'm off at 6:30 and home by 7.

When I got home I fed Alexis, played with her, and hugged on her and just sat on the couch doing really nothing for an hour. I was starving and exhausted and didn't feel like taking the time to make food, so we went out to get food and bought it back home and ate. I watched The Office and Parks and Rec and then proceeded to go on a cleaning spree in the kitchen. I washed all of Alexis' bottles and things, washed the pans in the sink, got a disinfectant wipe and cleaned all over the sink, counter tops, stove, and even under and behind the microwave. I also got all the trash in the kitchen together and had that thrown away and put the recycling in the garage. I even did some laundry. My mom came by to pick up my brother, so I took a shower and came into my room and spent sometime bumping and listening to music. Alexis finally fell asleep and so did I.

Longest day ever right? Well the one bright side was that I got the proofs for Alexis' invitation(s) yesterday, right before I left to my last session. I thought I was going to like the B&W better because that's what her sample was and I liked the way it looked together, but I think it's because the colors she was wearing in the picture complimented the colors in the invite, so we are going with the color picture one. Either way I have both files for the B&W and color so I can print both of them for her future scrapbook, so she can see both of them.

Yesterday was Mother's Day, Mexican status, in Mexico and I believe maybe other Latin countries it is celebrated on the 10th. I planned on celebrating the 13th and not the 10th but I guess it's been decided for me that I would celebrate both lol. My dad called me in the morning and told me Feliz Dia De Las Madres and my older brother told me last night lol so I guess I'm celebrating both. My family can celebrate me on the 10th and Derek and Alexis can celebrate me on the 13th! Well my dad asked me what my work schedule was and I told him I was working all day so he said that we should find another day to go out and eat. So I called him last night and told him I wasn't working today and that him, me, and my mom (and of course Alexis') should go grab some lunch today :)

Today I will also be going and printing the invites out and getting them sent out. I'm not sending very many out we want to keep it small, Under 20. I'm inviting my parents and my little brothers, my dads girlfriend, my older brother and his girlfriend, my best friend Kathy, Magaly, Debbie, Amandalyn and her boyfriend, Rachel, and my IL's (who don't really seem interested in coming). I won't be sending out a lot of them because I live so close to certain people that I can just hand it to them. I do want to get those all out today though.

I'm excited because I'm been communicating back and forth with the people I ordered all the stuff from on Etsy and it looks like the high chair banner as well as the dress are shipping out today :))) I get to pick up the shoes in Orange County on Wednesday and now I just have to find a suitable candle :)

Well that is all for today :)

P.S. Alexis gives the most amazing hugs hands down, in the universe! She squeezed some tears out of my last night because even though she just started giving hugs, I am already sad for the day I won't be able to get these little cuddly baby hugs from her :(

Tomorrow Will Be 1 Week Till Lexi's Birthday!

Ah! I am sooo excited Alexis will be 1 next Monday!

I just finished ordering Alexis' birthday dress and shoes :))) Thanks to my Daddy Dearest who bought her her little birthday outfit as her birthday gift!

Here is the dress, that I have posted a million times.

I really really wanted these shoes.

They are so perfect but the turn around time was 2 weeks and I wouldn't get them on time :(

So I ended up going with these. They're cute, but I really loved the other ones better, oh well :)

I still have some more stuff to order tomorrow, like the birthday candle, banner for her high chair and the invitations. I can't believe I am sending out the invitations so late but it's not that big of a deal because I've already let everyone know the date and the invites are really just a formality and because they are so cute! Scrap-booking material :)

Also my daddy bought Alexis these cute little onesies, just Alexis' style :)They are 12 months so they won't fit her quite yet, she right now is in 6-9 months.

That is all I have for now :)

Miss Alexis

My little Alexis Claire Hodges/Lexi/Chica/Baby Girl lol will be 1 in 13 days! I seriously cannot believe it. She is going to be a toddler!!!

I said I needed to update about what she's been up to, so this is it.

What is she eating now?:
Well Alexis is eating her veggie and fruit solids and she is also having oatmeal and barley. She has been eating a lot more table food lately. She loves having beans, rice, and meat :) She's so Mexican lol She likes spaghetti and pasta soups. I've also given her pineapple,bananas and orange, not the purees but the actual fruit. She loves loves loves pineapple.

She is drinking water, we're not giving her juice or anything anytime soon.

Formula?
Well Alexis isn't really wanting to drink it. In the morning and at night she will drink 6oz no problem but through out the day she can barely have 4oz every couple of hours, she'll drink some of it but then just chew on the nipple and play with it. I feel like she's kind of over it. I know that it's normal to stop giving babies formula or breast milk when they turn 1 and switch over to whole cows milk, but I'm not sure if we should do that; I am waiting to speak with Alexis' doctor.

What new moves does she have?:
Well Alexis has been crawling for some time but she likes to crawl backwards lol and to the side a lot she only crawls forward a little bit. She can take some steps to the side and stand very well when she's holding on to something, like the couch. Alexis is definitely not walking yet, which is expected. It makes me a little sad only because I know most 1 years olds are either taking some steps and falling or actually full on walking. But at the same time it doesn't make me sad because the thought of her growing up does make me kind of sad and nostalgic, plus I know that because she was 3 weeks early and is super petite that she doesn't have that weight proportion to be there yet.

Alexis has become a crazy hugger, she holds super tight and lays her head on your shoulder and she is just so precious. She is also biting though, which hurts lol. She is so flexible too! (She gets that from me ;)) She'll bend forward and touch her toes and then stick her toes in her mouth lol and suck on them.

What is she babbling about?:
Alexis is "talking" a lot but not saying any specific words. Derek thinks that she is saying "daddy" but I'm pretty sure that's not true. Otherwise all those times she said "mama" would have been considered her first words. We'll see though, I think she is getting close to her real first word.

She is also drooling like crazy! She had her two bottom teeth and her two top teeth but a couple of weeks ago the two teeth on the side of her top teeth started coming in. It's really weird but when Alexis first started teething with the 2 pairs of teeth that first came in, she didn't cry very much but it seems like these teeth are hurting her even more, makes me sad. The baby Orajel has helped a little bit but I try not to use it unless she is really having a hard time.

How much is she growing?:
Alexis feels so much bigger now but I can't really give a good guess of what her weight is now. Last time at her 9 month appointment she was 14 pounds so I'd like to think she is at 18lbs but I think that is wishful thinking. I'm thinking more like 16lbs, which I hope is not the case.

Everyday Alexis looks more and more like me :) I love watching her grow and look older, she just has the cutest face. Also, I don't know if it's just me or what, but her eyelashes seem to be getting longer and longer. Also, Alexis has got to have like the most perfect tan I have ever seen lol, seriously!

I also love hearing from my mom that Alexis', aside from looking just like me, reminds her of me when I was a baby because of her little personality. She is just as sassy as I was.

What does she have coming up?:
Alexis' birthday is in 13 days! Her birthday falls on a Monday so we will be celebrating on Saturday the 19th. I will be getting the invitations this week and sending them out :) I have yet to get her ears pierced :( I'm super lagging it, I've been busy and have had other things to do so it's fallen by the wayside. Hopefully in May or June at the latest we will be getting her ears pierced :)))

Alexis has not gotten a haircut and I really don't want to cut her hair if I don't have to, so I don't think we'll be doing that anytime soon.

Alexis' 12 month doctor's appointment is next month, the week after her birthday. We were going to switch her doctor to one down here but decided against it. I really want to finish all her shots with Dr. Brown. So next month Alexis and I will be flying up to Sacramento for the day, really just a couple of hours. Her appointment is on a Friday, the day before my brother Alex has his high school graduation, and the day after her appointment I have a friend's baby shower and the day after that my brother's baby shower lol So much going on those 2 weeks in May! Derek won't be coming to the appointment with us because flights for him are super expensive, I have a credit for my flight so it won't be too expensive for me, so it will just be me and Alexis, I really wish he could be there though, he's never missed an appointment :(

What else is going on?:
Ever since Alexis was born I've had people up to now ask me if I want to have another baby and if I'm going to anytime soon? I remember the teacher in my old classroom in Sacramento asking me if I wanted more and if I wanted a boy next. Of course I [we] want more kids. I want 4, 2 boys and 2 girls lol, ideally.

I loved loved loved being pregnant and I miss it. It doesn't hurt that pregnancy was good to me :) except for the HELLP Syndrome part, hopefully that won't happen next time ;) However, even before we decided to get pregnant with Alexis we knew that we wanted to wait till Alexis was at least 2. I don't want 2 under 2. One under 2 and one over 2 is probably the perfect scenario.

Aside from the fact that our parenting plan has always been to wait for #2. I really want it to be just the 3 of us for a little bit. I want Alexis to have all our love and attention before be bring #2 into the mix. I want to do some traveling with my little girl and I would like for her to feel like she has gotten to be the only one for a little bit so that when I do get pregnant again she can appreciate the time we spent just the 3 of us and not feel jealous and be invested in her little sister or brother.

More importantly than all that I want us to be in a better financial situation as well as I need to lose some weight and get super fit. I know that with my first pregnancy I only gained 10 pounds, but I may not be able to get away with that next time. I've heard the second pregnancy you show quicker and that you usually gain more weight. It is hard to wait though when Derek tells me things like, "I'm excited to make another baby with you. I think we have the perfect family. Plus we make beautiful babies." lol I love that he is excited to add to our family once we are ready again :) Derek was amazing with me when I was pregnant; I felt loved, wanted, and safe. I feel sad for woman who don't feel supported while they're pregnant :(

I can't really think of anything else right now, but that's it for now. Enjoy!

Here is a picture of me and my girl :)