Merry Christmas

I attempted to get out Christmas cards, I really did. I even went through the effort of taking the girls pictures and making them. But I have yet to print them and mail them, so it's not happening. So in a lame attempt to wish you all a Merry Christmas, I will post my card here!

Recent Happenings

• We're mooooooooving. We have a place as of the 1st of January. It's a nice house, about the same size as this one, but it's SO much closer to Michael's work. He is the most excited I think. For me, it's bittersweet. I am excited for change, I enjoy change. New ward, hopefully new friends, new neighbors, etc etc. But I am finally beginning to feel at home here in Nampa (26 months later). I have a few good friends, ok maybe not a few, maybe one. I am starting to enjoy my ward, but at the same time, I find it kind of pathetic when people say hi and ask me how long I've been in this ward. Uhhhh, twice as long as you honey! Plus I am so not looking forward to packing, so anyone in the near vicinity, feel free to come pack your hearts out! I have a picture of the house, but it's on my cell phone and I haven't sent it to the computer. On Sunday we're gonna go measure and stuff so I'll take some then.
• My little baby is growing up. She is such a big girl now. Totally has her own personality and spunk. It's kinda different because at this age is when Hailey started becoming the biggest brat. Aubrie seems to get sweeter everyday. She's walking along furniture now, and even standing on her own for a few seconds. I wouldn't be surprised if she started walking in the next little while, but I am TOTALLY not ready for that.
• My mother in law headed to California for Christmas on Wednesday. So we decided to exchange gifts before she left. Kev was super excited because we got him a new guitar for his guitar hero. If Michael weren't his only brother, he'd still be his favorite. The girls had fun opening presents. Aubrie actually tore at the paper. I guess it helps that she LOVES to eat it. The girls got a few outfits, some tub toys, and books. Hailey is now chomping at the bit to open the presents under our tree. She grabs one, comes up to me and says, " Go Nana's house and open present?". She's going to have so much fun Christmas morning.
• We're going on a vacation!!! Much needed I might add. We're leaving on the 3rd of January. Our first stop will just be for the afternoon in Utah. We'll see my favorite roommate from college, Dana, and her big belly (shes due in March!), and hopefully a few other friends if I can plan it. Then that night we'll head to Vegas, woohoo! I plan to gamble all of our hefty Christmas bonus away. Oooooh wait, I don't gamble. Not to mention there was NO Christmas bonus, besides sloppy kisses and tight squeezes. Which I supposes is much better then anything monetary. Wow, nice tangent. In Vegas we'll stay the night at Nikkis and hang out for a day probably. Hopefully we'll see my friend Alisa too. Then we'll head down to AZ to see my family. My grandparents will also be there! We'll be there from the 5th to the 9th or 10th, so mark your calenders and plan something fun! Then we'll head to Palm Desert. We'll be there until the 14th. I am way excited cause I get to see Holly and her new baby, Tyler! Yippee! And I also get to see Amy and her big belly. 2 more weeks.....
• Nothing else really going on. Just getting ready for Christmas. Today Hailey and I made sugar cookies and decorated them. Hailey is getting into the Christmas spirit by watching Polar Express, 20x a day. I'm not quite sure what I am doing for Christmas dinner. I lack culinary skills... I told Michael that we may be having Ramen Noodles. Yum! So if anyone has an idea for a somewhat easy meal that would be perfect for the Holiday. Please, share!- Kate and Sara, I'm talking to you. I am always up to trying new things. I just need detailed instructions. The thing I am looking forward to most is Michael having a good chunk of time off. He gets Sunday-Wednesday off. I am just so pleased that the Holidays fell on those days so he could be home with us. It wouldn't be Christmas without him.
  

Back to the drawing board...

Ugh. They decided to go with another family. I had a feeling I shouldn't get my hopes up. It was too good to be true. I'm going out with my friend Jill today to look at a few more (thanks Jill!!). Crossing my fingers!

So last night Daddy had brilliant idea to help Hailey go to sleep easier. I don't know if I mentioned it, but she takes almost 2 hours to go to bed for naps and nighttime. And it's not that she's not tired, because believe me, she is! She just wants one of us to rub her back. So we're at Costco and Michael sees this huge Elmo body pillow. No joke, its bigger then Hailey, AND her bed. So he thinks that he can bribe her with it. He asks her if she wants it, and of course she says, "Buy Momo, bring Momo home, peeeeeease Daddy". So we get home and give her the ginormous pillow... Slooooowly walk out of the room, shut the door.... breathe.... ... sigh of relief.

"MOOOOOOMMY"
Ugh!- I ignore her for a few minutes.
"DAAAAAAAADDY"
So I go back in.
"Mommy, back"
"No Hailey, I am not going to rub your back, go to sleep"
"Daddy, back"
"Hailey, you need to go to sleep. If you don't go to sleep I'm taking Elmo away"
"Momo go backa Caco!" (Costco)
"You don't want to sleep with Elmo?"
"No, Momo backa Caco."
"Alright"

I then take Elmo out of her room and shut the door. She proceeded to scream and cry for another hour or so. If I went in and asked if she wanted Elmo back, she was adamant that he was going back to Costco.

Back to the drawing board...

Busy Busy

Sorry for the lack of updates... Things have been kind of hectic around here. Michael is working his butt off like usual. He's averaging like 20 hours of overtime a week. Makes for decent mula, but sometimes the girls don't see their daddy for like 48 hours. Which also means, Mommy doesn't get a break.
Both the girls are teething. Loads of fun. Aubrie's two top teeth are almost through, and Hailey's incisors are FINALLY starting to come, she has 1 of 4. Most kids get those WAY before now. Needless to say nights have not been so much fun. We took Hailey's pacifier away (yes, AGAIN) but this time for good. We took her to build-a-bear and let her build a Shrek. They were have a great deal! 20 dollars for the doll, an outfit, shoes, and sound. Normally over 40 dollars. We told her that if she wanted Shrek she had to throw all her yucky pacis in the trash. Which she gladly did. Sometimes I'll see her sneak one of Aubrie's but as soon as she knows that I noticed she says, "yucky paci!!" and throws it across the room. Little stinker!
We took Aubs to the dr. for her 9 month well check. She is 29 inches (95%) ,and 17 lbs (25%). It was the first time Michael was there for shots. Somehow he dodged all shot apts with both the girls until now. So as a loving wife, I let him leave the room while I held her to get poked, NOT! He had the pleasure of holding Aubrie while she got a flu shot and a finger prick. She didn't hardly make a peep. I'll be sure to send him to the next apt when she gets like 4 shots.
So we're in the process of looking for a rental. We found one that we LOVE. It is so much closer to Michaels work. Right now he is 26 miles from work and it takes about 35 minutes each way. This house is 7 miles from work and should take no more then 10 minutes. That'll save almost an hour a day for him! And so much gas money. We put an application in on Tuesday. There were a few other families that put in apps also, so we'll just have to wait and see. Pray for us! We would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be in this house and so much closer to Michaels work.
It snowed the other day. Hailey loved playing in the snow. I'm on my desktop and the usbs don't work, so when I get on my laptop and get connect to the internet (the wireless is VERY shotty, at best), I'll post some snow pictures and other recent ones.
Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays!!

To nurse or not to nurse...

That is the question.

So here's the deal, Aubrie is going to be 9 months on Thursday. Which is precisely what my goal was when it came to nursing her. I nursed Hailey until she was 9 months (and found out I was pregnant) so I wanted to at least make it that far. And now that I have, I am trying to decide whether or not to continue.

I have pretty strong opinions when it comes to nursing. For the most part, I am a very easy going person and accepting to anything and everything. But when it comes to breastfeeding your child, I think it is the best thing a Mom can do for them. Whether it be for a year, or even for a month. I think every mom should try. Yes this is a very debatable subject, and touchy for some, so I'll try to keep my opinions and thoughts as kindly as I can. Let me first say this, I respect any choice a person makes. I don't know their situation, and I would NEVER think less of a Mother for choosing formula. But I do think that they should at first give it a try. Like take for example my sister Heidi (I hope you don't mind heids). She tried and tried to nurse Zadi. She even tried pumping. But Zadi wasn't gaining any weight. So she then turned to formula. She had no other choice, Zadi needed to grow and it was the best for their situation. I guess Heidi is just too skinny and produces skim milk (wink wink). But I have so much respect for her for being so selfless and trying so hard to nurse Zadi.


Anyway, here are some of the reasons I choose to breastfeed.

It is the most complete and perfect (hello its God made, what can go wrong there) nutrition for your child to have. Also said to be easier to digest.

Breastfed babies generally have lower rates of ear infections, illnesses, rashes and allergies. Although I don't think that one is working out too well for me, lol, my girls have had it ALL. Eczema, Chicken Pox, Rotovirus, RSV, and NUMEROUS ear infections.

The ease of nursing. I don't have to clean bottles. I don't have to prepare bottles at 2 am. I don't have to worry about packing bottles, formula, water, etc, whenever we got out.

Breastfeeding lowers the risk of SIDS. Although there's no conclusive evidence of this per se. Some studies have found a link between lowered rates of SIDS while others have not. What's clear is that breastfeeding can help prevent respiratory and gastrointestinal infections that may be related to SIDS.

Helps protect me against ovarian and breast cancer.

And one of the most important reasons (for me at least) it's FREE. The cost of basic formula for the 1st year of a babies life costs around 1,500 dollars. And when you don't make very much money, that's a big amount! Heck, I just us lots of money, maybe I deserve to go buy something nice :).

Anyway, I should get off my soapbox. But for the record, I hate nursing. Lol. It makes my PPD worse, and I just don't enjoy it like some mothers do. I don't feel like I'm bonding with Aubrie as I nurse. And I am not one of those women who say it's so "beautiful" to nurse their child. Lol, it's kind of ugly actually, and my saggy boobs would probably agree! But for my baby I'll sacrifice.

So... back to the original question, to nurse of not to nurse. I guess I'll just play it day by day. She's really only nursing 4 times a day, MAYBE 5. So it's not very time consuming. But I kind of want my body back :). I've got 2o lbs that need to LEAVE! They are no longer welcome. Well, I'll nurse tomorrow... and if I wake up the next day and feel like nursing, I'll do it again, until I just don't feel like it anymore... we shall see, time will tell.