This is it. She walked accross the stage yesterday, shook Mr. Cordi's hand and received her High School Diploma. My little Chelsie in the box is done with High school. And she is on to see what else God has for her life at Bethany College (All right- she doesn't actually leave until August- but she is so busy this summer it feels as if she is leaving next week). Luckily the baby distracted me enough or I might have shed a few tears. I still can't believe the little girl that used to beat me up and I would lock out of my room- has grown up and is now my best friend. And sisters are the best friends because they are family. And family always loves you- No matter what. Here are some pictures.

The graduate- Walking to her seat
Three sisters
Many of Chelsie's friends (A group of people that always took me by surprise with the choices they made as friends. Instead of getting wasted together, they supported each other and always had some fun event planned.)
Best Friends

Justin's New Nose

All right, so it is not that much different on the outside (A little straighter) but inside it should be very new. The doctor said it was tough because his septum was the worst he has seen (in 6 years) but once he fixed the deviation the nose straightened out enough that he did not have to do more surgery. This means less recovery time, swelling, bruising, etc. He is doing good. Just in a little pain still and groggy from everything. But he should be able to breathe better and it will hopefully fix his snoring problem.

Froggy pool on hot day

It was in the 90's yesterday so I headed off to Wal-Mart and look what I found. A frog pool to go with my baby. She was not too happy when I put her in at first because it was cold. I added some hot water to warm it up a litle and she loved it. We played as a family for a while and it kept us all cool.

Jerry & Kelly's Wedding

Our friends Jerry & Kelly were married in Santa Cruz last Saturday. The wedding was beautiful. Unfortunetely, since I was unable to find a babysitter for Paige, she made it hard to enjoy the night. Justin was in the wedding and the place was beautiful. Being alone made it a little harder to do anything. I had to leave the ceremony because Paige decided that was a good time to talk to everyone. Below are the only pictures I took (apparently there is no record of me).

Huffman Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Paige's First RED SOX game

If you were to ask Justin to title this blog, it might not be the same. He might name it "Paige's First A's Game" or "Paige's First Baseball game". Regardless of what we want to call it, we got dressed up in our favorite teams gear, hopped on the BART and went to a game. The weather was nice. I needed a sweatshirt, but it was nice.

We got a lot of attention on BART. Partly because of how cute Paige is. But also because I was in Red Sox gear and Justin was in A's gear. If you don't know already, Justin & I tend to always root for the opposing teams. He says it is just because I am always a Boston fan and he doesn't like Boston. I think he just likes the rivalry. And I am OK with that because I kind of like it too. Paige was cute in her Red Sox Onsie (Thanks to cousin Lyndsi!).

Paige did great during the game. Mostly she chewed on the ties from my sweatshirt. She didn't even seem to notice when people yelled, and she took her "complimentary 30 minute nap" as my mom calls it. We left halfway through the 8th inning when she was starting to get a little bored, made it back on BART before the masses and headed home. Overall, it was a good day at the Ball Park (Even if the SOX did not win)

My mom's mom's visit

My mom's mother came out just afte mothers day. She was able to be a par of taking Paige's 6 month pictures (So exciting) so that was great. She was only here a short time so I can't wait to see her again in July. Here are some pictures from the last night.

Paige's 6 Month Check-up

Paige was such a trooper today. She played it up for the doctor and showed her all of the things she can do (sitting up, etc). She is right on target for a 6 month old. We now have to work on clapping and waving for the 9 month check-up. She is 15lbs 5oz now, 25 3/4 long. She is right in the middle of everything. The doctor was estimating she will only be 5'4", but we will see.

We gave her tylenol when we first got there so it had kicked in by the time she had her vaccines. She did great (Only 3 shots this time). She cried, but I nursed her right after and she was smiling by the time we left. She was a little cranky, but she took a long nap this afternoon.

Last night was good. She went to sleep early (7pm), slept until 2- ate and went back to sleep until almost 7am. Tonight she just went down at 7:30. Hopefully tonight will be good to. Now we are just looking forward to our 1st baseball game on Sunday.

This Is How I Roll!

Paige is really starting to move now. She is rolling to wherever she wants to go. It won't be long until she starts to crawl.

On the sleeping front- Last night was miserable. She went to bed with little to no protesting and I thought maybe things are getting better. But she woke up just under 3 hours later and continued to scream for 2 hours. I finally gave in and nursed her to sleep because I needed to get some sleep for work. I think she may be having problems teething again.

Anyways- Here is a video of her rolling around our living room.

6 Month Pictures

Today went pretty well. She was not quite her happy self, but she smiled enough. She started getting cranky towards the end of the session. She is sitting up pretty good by herself so that was fun. We then had a long day of shopping and she was pretty good overall. I am attaching a few pictures from todays session. I tried to pick ones that you will not be getting in the mail soon (I don't get the printed ones until around 6/2 so they will be in the mail soon after that).

She loves the sweet potatoes so much that she did not even want rice cereal today after she had her taste of sweet potatoes. Not sure what that means. But we go to the doctor on friday so we will get more information then. For now- Enjoy the pics.

Eating is fun.

She loves eating. She had her first taste of food besides rice cereal today (Sweet potato's). Hard to believe that she will be 6 months on Friday. We are taking her pictures tomorrow since my grandma is visiting. I thought people might want so see some pictures of her eating from the last week or two.

On the sleeping front, it is still a challenge. It takes her on average 30-40 minutes to fall asleep. She is waking up around 11:30 or midnight and then around 5, nursing one of thos times. She then sleeps til 6:45 or sometimes until 8pm. The last couple of nights have been tough, but there has also been a heat wave and our air broke on Saturday afternoon so the fact that our house is hottttttt, could be the problem. We will keep you posted.

Night 4 & 5

Night 4 was pretty amazing. It was my birthday. We had my family over for dinner so we would not get her routine thrown off. She was almost falling asleep during dessert so we started her bedtime routine and put her down around 7:50. It took about 30 minutes for her to fall asleep (8:20). She slept until 4:20 (8 hours!), had her diaper changed and fed (Up for about 40 minutes). She was smiling at me as if to say, Good Morning Mommy! Is it time to play? I just smiled at her and put her back in her crib. She went back to sleep without a peop until 6:45.

Night 5 was more like night 3. Justin put her down since I was at bible study. But she only took 15 minutes or so to sleep. She slept until 12:45, when she woke up because she pooped and was hungry. After feeding, and crying for a few more minutes (40 minutes of awake time) she fell back asleep until 6:45 AM.

This is a process, but it is nice to sleep with my husband alone again. I am still not sleeping too well since I wake up several times thinking she is making a sound and she is not.

Sleep Training, Night 3

Well, last night was not as good as night two, but not as bad as night one, so I guess that is still progress.

She had to go to bed a little early since her last nap was around 3 and I have discovered that if she goes to be too early she does not sleep as well. We put her down around 7:20 and she cried for about 45-50 minutes. She slept until around 10:15. She cried for about 5 minutes and then went back to sleep for about an hour. I got up and nursed her, thought she would go right back to sleep but she kept crying for about 30 or 40 more minutes. But then she slept until just before 7am. So overall it was not too bad of a night.

I think if she takes her late afternoon nap, she does much better in the early evening and night is better. We will see how tonight plays out.

Sleep Training, Night 2

Wow! What a difference a night can make. I had plans on Saturday night to go out with my friends and see my favorite artist, Justin McRoberts, in Concord at the Vineyard/Shelter Church. (More about that later). So the bedtime routine and initial crying was in Justin's hands. She did great!

8:15-8:45 Put To bed, Awake- Crying

8:45-2:45- Sleeping (6 hours!)

2:45-2:55 off & on crying/whining (No screaming more whining and may not have even lasted 10 minutes)

2:55-5:55- Sleeping (3 more hours)

5:55- Nursed her and she was still tired so I put her back to bed.

6:00-6:15- Slept until she was ready to get up at 6:15- with a big smile.

Amazing! I hope it just keeps getting better.

I had a wonderful time last night. Justin McRoberts concerts are not expenisive ($10 with his new cd) but are alway worth 5 times what you pay. He plays for about 2 hours. Sings 2 songs at a time and then talks in between. He is almost like a comedian because he tells great stories! It was wonderful. Weird being out until 10:30 ish, but worth it. Plus- since my baby slept until 3, I got 4 hours of initial sleep and then another 3 hours. It was a great way to start of my mothers day & birthday.

Sleep Trainin, Night 1

Last night (Friday) was our first night of sleep training. She is 5 1/2 months old and was still waking up every couple of hours to eat and could not fall asleep on her own. She would only sleep for 30-45 minutes in her crib. Justin & I were tired and we had tried some other, more gentle methods, but all Paige did was scream. So we adapted a method from the Baby Sleep Solution.

We had a plan, and surprisingly we stuck to it.

At 7:30 we started the bedtime routine
8pm put her to bed- no pacifier- awake
8-9:05- She cried. We went in every 15 minutes or so to reassure her that we love her but it was time to sleep.
9:05-9:10- We thought she was sleeping, but...
9:10-9:35- She started crying again
9:35-11:55- She slept. I tried to sleep but I only managed about 1/2 of that because I kept "hearing things".
11:55-12:10- After letting her cry for 10 minutes and she did not calm down. I went in and fed her (We had decided to feed her if she woke up after 4 hours of not eating since she was used to eating every 2-3 hours). I put her down, almost asleep and she stayed that way
12:10-1:20- She slept
1:20-1:50- More crying- Justin went in and re-assured her twice
1:50-2:20- She slept
2:20-2:45- Woke up again- Justin changed her diaper and put her back to bed
2:45-3:25- More sleeping
3:25-3:40- More crying ( I was close to feeding her again since it had almost been 4 hours, but she only cried for 15 minutes this time and then was asleep again)
3:40- ? It is now 6:45 and she is still sleeping.

So night 1 was a little rough, but if she can pick-up the valuable skill of soothing herself to sleep we will all be better off in the long run. Hopefully tonight will be a little better, and tomorrow and little better, etc. Will keep you posted.

Good News I think!

Quick Update. The blood test results are in. She did not test positive to any allergens. So she is not allergic to milk, rice, soy, eggs, peanuts, cats, dogs, mold, pollen, dust and a few other things that she rattled off. So the good news is we can start the rice cereal again and she will like that. The bad news is that we still have to see what it is she is reacting too. She thinks it might be heat. And she thinks the other symtoms are related to teething.

I know I do not update too often, but I thought I would take a minute to post some new pictures of Paige. She is growing so fast. 5 months old now. This post and the next are some new pictures. I hope to post more in a little while when I hear from the Doctor with her blood test results.

This is what I look like when Daddy watches me.
She is so close to rolling over from her tummy to her back.
More time with Daddy.
Finally! A picture with Mom.

Picture Updates

She is learning to sit up
I love her hair in the morning
Sometimes you just need help with the laundry
Play time with Daddy.

Allergy Testing

After weeks of cutting out Milk products, she is still getting hives. They are still mostly on her back (Occasionally one will pop up somewhere else) and don't seem to be bothering her. But since we can't start food again until they go away, this is a problem. After talking to her doctor last Monday, she wanted to do some allergy testing. So on Thursday Justin brought her to the lab to have blood drawn. She did very good, only crying a little. We should know more later this week. I just want to know what it is that is bothering her so we can get her more comfortable. She has been having an upset stomach, slight diarrhea and not sleeping (I didn't know that could get worse) well this last week. So I am not sure if something I am eating now is bothering her more. I always wanted to be a detective, but this is not what I had in mind.

Chelsie's Senior Ball

It is so hard to believe. My little sister (the middle one who is 11 years younger) went to her Senior Ball yesterday. And in two months she will be graduating High School. In 4 months she will be moving an hour away to Santa Cruz and starting college at Bethany. Chelsie, the little girl who I used to play "Chelsie in the box" with. The little girl who used to tell on me, beat me up and steal my things. The one who grew up enough that I started stealing her clothes and eventually became my best friend. But it is true- She is getting bigger and will be an adult in just about 3 months (Legally at least!). It is with tears of happiness that I share these pictures below.

Chelsie, getting ready- Takes a moment to take a picture with her favorite niece (OK Her only one!)
Chelsie and her date- Nate
The whole group-It was hard to fit them in the picture
The Fab 4 and Paige
Sisterly Love

Pics from the dedication

Here are a couple of picture from her dedication. I didn't take too many so I hope to update with more once people send me some. But it was a great day and she was very happy!

Paige with Pastor Ron
Our Happy Family before the actual service.

Today was a big day for Paige. Justin & I dedicated her to the Lord. I have attached a video (About 4 minutes) for those of you who were unable to attend. A lot of family & friends came. We had a BBQ at our house afterwards. I will try to put up some pictures and more information tomorrow.

Things that never go away

Paige has been pretty happy since her 4th month check-up, but we have been back to the doctor once, and will probably need to go again Monday. She still seems to have Thrush (despite having to give her oral medicine that she hates 4 times a day) and she also has developed what they tell me are hives on her back. They started the day after the rice cereal started, so I thought she could be having a reaction to that. We stopped it but the hives were getting worse. But they come and go so it is so hard to tell. You look at her back one moment and she is fine and a little later they look bad. They don't seem to bother her, but it bothers me not knowing what they are. I took her to the doctor on Monday. The doctor we saw thinks she may be having a slow onset reaction to milk. So I had to cut it out of my diet again and switch the formula we have been using about once a day while she is at my moms house. The new stuff is quite expensive, so if this is the solution- I may have to re-think my plan of stopping breasfeeding at 6 months.

The doctor said it would be OK to start the rice cereal again, so we did. I am not sure if the hives are really getting better. It could just be a heat rash. Her skin is just like mine. If you touch her, it will turn red for a short time and then go back to mine. It makes it difficult to tell if there is a problem.

So I think I will be taking her back to the doctors on Monday. I was planning on starting a different grain cereal or oatmeal on Monday as per the doctors original plan (One new food a week). I want them to check out her thrush and her hives if they are still there. We will find out.

For now, we are just getting ready for her baby dedication tomorrow. We will be posting more information, probably on Monday. We have around 30 people coming so far and just spend a lot of money at costco. Our friends Evan & Danielle are coming up this afternoon to spend the night so that will be fun. And my sister Chelsie will be here in a minute to clean my house (We are paying her!).