Category Archives: Mcnugget

Lydia at 18 months…

Its been a while since I have blogged about our sweet Liddy Bug. She has been changing so much lately – its crazy how fast time flies. I wish I could bottle her up at this stage and keep it forever. She is just so.much.fun.

She is full of energy, is non-stop from the moment she wakes up to when she naps to bedtime. (well except for about 10-30 minutes of snuggle time during milk and cartoons in the morning and after nap) She keeps us on our toes and makes us smile and laugh EVERYDAY- a true blessing especially in the midst of a tough transition season for our little family. She plays really well by herself as long as you are in the same area as she is. When she plays she skips from one toy or object (plastic cups and lids or spice jars in the kitchen) to the next within a matter of minutes- like I said a busy happy girl.

She is a pretty good eater and will try most things. We could for sure increase her intake of veggies (this is a fault from her momma since I am not a huge veggie fan, esp. preggo- we are trying!) Some of her favorite foods include:

  • hummus with carrots or pita chips
  • beans of any kind
  • cheese
  • Spanish rice
  • guacamole (she doesn’t like avocado by it’s self, but add a Mexican twist and she is sold)
  • blueberries
  • plain yogurt
  • pizza
  • Clementine oranges
  • veggie soup
  • Chicken tortilla soup
  • green beans
  • gold fish
  • cinnamon raisin bread
  • Special K Vanilla Almond cereal with milk & strawberries
  • hard boiled eggs
  • Mac & Cheese
  • Fried eggs (she hasn’t been liking scrambled eggs lately- which she used to eat two at a time!)
  • Spaghetti

She has been trying to talk more and more these days. It is so cute! I know that it won’t be too long before she is non-stop talking…. poor Chase- he will have two talkative women in his life 🙂 I just love seeing her try to listen and then think about how to say it and then actually attempt saying it- what a joy as a parent to see your kids learning! Some of the things she is saying these days are:

  • Momma
  • Daaaddy
  • Bye-byes
  • Hi
  • bubbles
  • shoooes
  • babrey (for Auntie Aubrey)
  • purple
  • blueberry (she says this so cute- not sure how to “write” it out)
  • cheese
  • No-no (she shakes her finger back and forth when she says this one)
  • tate-to (thank you)
  • yeah
  • yes
  • ease (please)
  • go
  • two
  • wow
  • ballon
We look Lydia to Chuck E Cheese for our last “family of 3” outing! She loved the pizza and dancing with Chuck E! 
We also taught her a few baby signs that she still uses. We have loved teaching her these and have seen a difference in her whining at the dinner table as a result. She uses the “please”, “thank you”, “all done”, “more”, “milk”, “water”, “eat”, and “bedtime” signs.

She loves making animal noises. Our family favorite is her “meow”- she looks like a pirate/ally cat by winking her right eye as she meows (pictured below). She does monkey noises with the arm motions, says “quack quack”, “woo-woo” for a dog noise, “baaa” for sheep, and snorts for a pig.

She love LOVES to dance! (I know, a girl after my own heart!) Anytime there is music on she is dancing- wiggling her hips, shaking her fingers back and forth, moving her shoulders up and down, kicking her legs, spinning around- just basically grooving to the beat. Lately she has even gotten better at dancing to the correct rhythm of the song. Her favorite songs to dance to are “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, the “cu-pig shuffle” from her dancing/singing Valentine pig from Nanny & Pappa, country music, JaJu’s 70’s rock music, and “Let it Go” from Frozen. Anytime she sees our computer she yells “gooooo!” and puts her arms out and says please meaning she wants to watch you tube videos of “Let it Go” and of course we give in and let her. (most of the time)

She has started throwing little dramatic fits by throwing herself on the ground and laying there for a bit, so the past few weeks we have tried the “time out” discipline method. Chase puts her in a chair for like 10-15 seconds and tells her to stay and she actually does! Usually she is crying, but it stops whatever dramatic fit she was just throwing. And then we hug her and tell her we love her and she gives us hugs back. Who knows if she knows what is going on, but she will eventually! We also have spanked (yes I said spanked!) her hand if she is doing something we have told her not to do several times. Its a trial and error learning phase for discipline at this point (and I am guessing for all of parenthood), so we will see what works for her! Can’t believe we have to already discipline, but when you were born a sinner it makes sense! Thank goodness for God’s grace and patience with us all.

She is a pretty good sleeper, which has been such a grace to us in this stage of life. She naps (and 99% of the time goes without a fuss) anywhere from 1 1/2 – 3 hours (please keep this up when Chloe comes!) and goes to bed between 8 and 9 and sleeps till 8:30 or 9 am! At night after we say our prayers and she has 3 paccis (yes 3) in her crib with her and her blanket on we ask her: “do you know momma loves you? do you know daddy loves you? do you know that Jesus loves you and is always there for you?” and after each questions she nods her heads and looks up at us while laying down… so sweet.

She has 12 teeth and has 4 making their way as we speak! This makes it easy for her to eat all sorts of stuff- including popcorn at her first movie, Frozen, that we took her to about a month ago. Such sweet memories.

learning how to wash cars with dad and jaju 

She is super flexible and a great traveler, but very particular at the same time. She has gotten to where she likes a routine (but can go with the flow when there is none) and likes to have everything in its place (not sure where she got that from?? not me! 😉 ) She has a plan and tries her best to communicate that plan to us– her new thing is to grab our hands and walk with us to wherever she wants to go and do what she wants to do. Its pretty cute.

We can’t wait to see Lydia as a BIG sister (even though she is still our baby- I know she will seem so much bigger compared to a newborn). We know that it will come with lots of joys, tears, laughs, excitement and challenges, but we are ready for what the Lord has in store for our little family. Even though we are ready to be out of this transition phase in life, we are thankful for the quality time we have had with family and that they have gotten to share in our joy of Lydia at this stage.

Liddy bug,

We know that life is about to change big time for you as you transition to being a BIG sister! But we know that you will do great with whats ahead and we know that you will fall in love with your baby sister. We pray that you two will become best friends and will always be there for each other. Thank you for being such a joy and so much fun to call our daughter. We love you more than you could ever know!

love, momma & dada

    Posted in Everyday Life, Family, Lydia, Mcnugget | 2 Comments

    Liddy’s Ladybug Party

    Lydia got quite spoiled while we were in the states with parties for her 1st birthday. This was the first of three she had! It was on September 7th (so a month early) in Albuquerque at Gramzi and Jaju’s house.  What a blessing it was to get to celebrate her first birthday in the states with friends and family.

    My mom and sisters were a HUGE help with this party. I had so many ideas and things I wanted to do, however, being in first trimester loveliness (exhausted and nauseous all.the.time.) I wouldn’t have had the energy or will power to pull it off with them. So thanks guys for all your help!

    We made cupcakes for the guests and of course Liddy had her first vanilla smash cake! I had fun decorating my first cake for my baby girl… looking forward to many more over the years for her. We also had root beer/coke floats, which were a huge hit.

    We did a “build your own pizza bar” (got the idea from my friend Jord when she did it for her daughter’s 3rd birthday and husband’s 30th birthday party). Brooke picked up yummy gyro bread from one of our favorite Arab restaurants in Lubbock (thanks again!) for the base, then we had all sorts of toppings (pepperoni, ham, green chile, mozzarella cheese, pineapple, feta cheese, etc.), then the guests took them outside to the grill for Chase to cook up for them. This was a huge hit! We had zero leftovers!

    Uncle Nate did a little mini photo session of Lydia on my mom’s red bench before the party! Love love the way they turned out!

    Can’t believe our little bug is a year old!

    Love spending time with these people!

    Party guests

    Progression of Lydia’s first kiss form Cooper Gilmore- too cute!!… yes his parents and us are working on their marriage contract as we speak- if our Arab friends do arranged marriages why can’t we?!

    Happy Birthday sweet girl!

    let the smash cake fun begin!

    she really liked it, but needed to rest at the end!

    How blessed are we to have this little girl in our life. She is so much fun and always keeps us on our toes! We had so much fun celebrating her first year of life with not only one party, but four! (and possibly one more-ha) We are grateful for all of you who celebrated with us and love our sweet girl.

    We look forward to many more fun parties and years of celebrating you Liddy May! Mommy and daddy love you always and forever! 

    *thanks Uncle Knate for helping take pictures at Liddy’s party- we love you!  (check out his facebook page- he is talented!)

      Posted in Family, Mcnugget, Parties | 2 Comments

      one month from a year!?!

      It almost seems serial that we have been parents for over 11 months now. I can’t imagine life without our little bug at our feet. Life has changed a ton, but I am so thankful for how it has changed and wouldn’t trade it for anything!

      Clothes: Our little peanut is still in 9 months clothes and doesn’t seem to be moving up in sizes any time soon! She still wears some 6 month shorts and 6-9 pjs. She is still in size 2 diaper and wears size 1 shoes! I think half the reason she is so tiny is that she is ALWAYS on the move- she never stops so whatever she eats just gets burned right off!

      Food: Don’t let Liddy’s small stature fool you into thinking that she doesn’t eat… cuz man this girl can eat! It amazes me at how much she can it. She loves food, loves feeding herself, and loves screaming for her food. Yes, screaming- not a super proud parent moment for us… we are trying to work on it by teaching her baby signing, but she knows what she wants and lets you know it. I unfortunately, don’t have much patience for meal time- Chase does a much better job than I do. Its amazing how much being a parent reveals sin in my heart! Any suggestions on how to work on meal time manners (I know she is only 11 months +, so it may just come with age), I would love to hear them! We are still nursing about 4-5 times a day. She can go much longer periods between feedings- which has been nice for momma!

      One the menu this month:

      • Pasta (loves it)
      • Spaghetti (super messy, but yummy)
      • We are doing more baby food veggies- she went through a stage of not liking them, but we tried again, and she really likes them- store bought has been the way we have gone- way too hard to make my own on the road
      • Rice (fried & steamed)

       

      Sleep: Considering that we have been on the road and sleeping in multiple different places she has done pretty well. The first week we were at my mom’s in Albuquerque was rough- she was waking up 1-3 times in the night! AHhhh. that is rough when you aren’t used to it. She was teething (getting 4 top teeth in at once!) and had a cold- poor baby. Gramzi was sweet and took the monitor for us a few nights. But for the most part she sleeps about 9-10 hours at night. Waking up around 7:30 am every morning… usually no matter what time she goes to bed! She is a morning girl. We were in an in-between stage of 2 naps is too much, but one nap was not enough. But lately she has been taking a pretty consist 2 naps a day! Its crazy how you think they are going to start doing one thing and then change on you again… babies. 🙂

      Travel & family: Since we have been in the states for a longer period of time than we planned, we have gotten lots of quality family time! It has been so fun to watch Liddy bond with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins! What an unexpected blessing. She has done so well with going to new people, traveling around, and getting lots and lots of attention- she of course hates that part- NOT! She loves getting so much attention. We have been to Dallas, Denver, Albuquerque, and Lubbock. She has gotten to go to a Ranger baseball game and a Texas Tech football game, to a water park and has spent lots of time in the pool.

      love bare-bottom babies! esp these bare-bottoms

      Other exciting stuff: 

      * Lydia crawled on grass for the first time this month. She was so funny- wasn’t sure what to do at first, but warmed up to it by the end.

      *Like I said before, she is getting her top 4 teeth in! All.at.once. = fun.times. Her top left one popped through first. On August 12 is when I first noticed them coming in. We are still waiting for them to pop all the way through.

      *She is pulling up and cruising on all furniture. We have been thinking any day now she will start walking, but is still content with crawling around. She has gotten much faster at this skill- it amazes me at how fast she can change rooms!

      *She is super curious and loves to explore new things. Her attention span is about 2 minutes long.

      *She will play by herself, but also loves when you are on the floor with her playing.

      *She loves to dance, clap her hands, smile, laugh, eat, get attention, loves dogs, and people.

      *Since we have been in the states she has loved being around dogs! She tries to say “woof woof” in whisper while she points or crawls to dogs.

      *Her favorite thing is to put her hands out in an “I don’t know” position…. it is so cute. (pictured below)

      *She babbles and says “mamaa”, “dada” , but I am not convinced that she associates it with us yet, so I am not counting it as her first word yet!

      *We got to spend a morning in the pool with a sweet friend, Lesley, and her adorable baby boy, Cooper- we are working on their marriage contract 🙂 They interacted much more this time than they did at Christmas!

      *She went to Sunday school for the first time this month and did so great! We would have taken her soon if we had the opportunity… what a blessing child care is! We really enjoyed getting to go to church without a busy bee in our arms!

      *Dad makes her laugh the most. I love seeing Chase with her- she is wrapped around his finger.

      *We have started to put her in shoes this month- We never messed with them before- they would always fall off and it was way too hot in the desert to wear them, but I am trying to get her used to them before she starts walking.

      *She has started to join in when we sing “patty cake patty cake”- its so cute, she rolls hers hands and everything. She also loves to sing “itsy bitsy spider”, “skdamarinkadink”, and “twinkle twinkle little star”

      *She loves to climb on everything. Since being in the land of dishwashers – America- she has discovered how much she loves them (as does her momma, but for different reasons), including climbing on them! We have to keep our eye on this one!

      *When she gets excited she claps her hands and kicks her legs super fast.

      *We still watch Praise Baby, but mostly in the car, since she doesn’t sit still at home to watch it any more.

      Lydia,

      We love you. Our prayer for you is to grow up knowing and serving Jesus with all your heart. We pray daily for your health, that you grow big and strong and that you will know that Jesus loves you and so do we! YOu have been such a joy to have with us as we live this crazy life. Thanks for going with the flow and being flexible. 

      We love you more than you know!

      love, momma & daddy 

        Posted in Mcnugget | 1 Comment

        ten months

        Gosh is it possible to love this sweet girl anymore!? Ah, I just love her to pieces! And since I am SUPER late in posting this I am not going to write as much, but share lots of pics from her 10th month. (can’t believe she will be 11 months in like 3 days!!)

        Clothes: She is wearing mostly 9 month clothes, but can still fit into some 6-9 month. She is still in a tiny size 2 diaper! She is just a little bitty peanut.

        Food: We are still nursing about 5 times a day with 3 meals and sometimes a snack after nap. She is not a huge fan of pureed baby food- she prefers to feed herself – miss independent. However, she loved the squeezable food pouches- she can even feed herself them! When we go out to eat we have been using a “tiny diner” mat and love it! We are also big fans of the “bumpkin” bibs- you can just throw them in the washing machine and they come out good as new.

        On the menu this month:

        • Canned green beans (however, I discovered that those have lots of salt in them- yes mother of the year award here- too bad, cuz they were super easy and quick to give her)
        • Beans- black and kidney (loves them)
        • Pancakes and waffles (loves them)
        • Cheese (loves)
        • Diced grilled chicken (likes it)
        • Cheerios (loves them, esp in her “snack trap”- this will entertain her for at least 5 minutes! ha)
        first time trying a waffle
        Sleep: I can’t really remember how well she slept this month- which I guess means she probably slept pretty good! We went to Dubai for an anniversary/ramadan vacation weekend just as a family and she was great! She took really good naps, slept through the night and even slept in- its as if she knew we were on vacation and needed more rest. I thought she was giving up her morning nap a few times this month, but thankfully she is still holding on to it- about 1-2 hour nap in the mornings and 1-3 hour nap in the afternoons- glory! It will be nice once we go to one long nap in the afternoon though, I think it will allow me to do more in the mornings. Although, I will miss my alone time to get stuff done around the house in the mornings.
        Other:
        *We had to make an unexpected trip to America for Chase’s mom. She got super sick and was in ICU for a week and we weren’t sure how she was going to do- Praise the Lord she is improving, is at home and slowly recovering. We are thankful that we were able to come home to be here with family during this time. All that to say, Liddy made her 3rd international flight! She actually did pretty good considering we traveled for 29 1/2 hours from our doorstep to Dallas. The first flight she had her own seat and slept great. The second (10 hour flight) she slept in my arms for an hour and in Chase’s for almost 3! And did pretty good… got fussy some, but overall we were proud of her. And Chase and I both got to watch 2 movies- which I would say is pretty good with a 10 month old…. we will see how she does when we return…
        *Her personality is showing through more and more. She is fun, spunky, busy, busy, lovable, and a sweetheart. She loves people and gets energy from being around them.
        *She loves her daddy- and is constantly laughing at him.
        *She started picking up her sippy cup herself and drinking- such a big girl.
        *She is ALL over the place- does not stop moving. Our most difficult time of the day is changing diapers and getting dressed- she wears me out, but is so fun!
        *She is still loving me more than anyone and still has a little separation anxiety that started at 9 months.
        *She continues to love her pacci. Which is great for us when she is fussy or sleepy.
        *We pulled out her “walker toy” this month and she loves it and is a champ at walking with it. I keep thinking any day she will take her first steps, but she loves to crawl and is satisfied with that for now.
        *”baby-proofing” became a must this month and she continues to show me things I need to keep out of reach from her.
        *We took her bowling for the first time this month to celebrate JoJo’s birthday! She did so great and had fun standing by the balls and feeling the air blow in her face. She even “bowled” with Chase and got super excited after the pins got knocked down.
        *She wore her first bikini this month and of course look adorable in it! Her daddy better watch out! I have also discovered that she has my same skin tone and already gets a little tan when she is in the pool!
        *At 10 months and 2 weeks she weighed 15 lbs 5 oz with clothes on! She is a tiny little things, as her cousin, who is a month younger weighs 20 lbs! 🙂
        Liddy Bug, 
        We love you more and more each day! Thankful to be your parents. What a fun, crazy month it has been. You continue to amaze us in how fast you are growing and learning. You are one busy girl who keeps us on our toes already, but we are loving it. Thanks for being easy to love and care for. 
        love, momma & daddy 
          Posted in Mcnugget | 1 Comment

          nine months

          Nine months to me feels like a whole different category of baby- like going from an infant to a baby… can’t believe I have a baby girl who is growing and developing more and more everyday.

          Thought I would do a compassion of how much she has changed from 3, 6 and now 9 months! Its amazing. Didn’t realize she had chubby little cheeks till I look back…

          Clothes: Believe it or not she can still wear some 3-6 month stuff, 6 month, but mostly I am putting her in 9 month clothes now, but she definitely has room to grow in them! She is still in size 2 diapers. This month she has had enough hair for me to put a rubber band in for a little pony tail! And it actually helps her keep in her bows which makes momma happy 😉 She also got her first pigtails this month… I die… too cute! (pictured below)

          Food: Lydia is loving solid food way more this month. She wants just about anything I am eating. I am nursing her about 5 times a day and feeding her solids 2-3 times a day. I plan on working on dropping a nursing this next month in the mornings. In the picture below she had her first pancake! And of course loved it! She has gotten pretty good at picking up food and feeding herself- often prefers that over being spoon fed.

          New foods on the menu this month:

          •  Apricots (loves them)
          • Plums (they had them from the US at our grocery store… so yummy, was hard for me to want to share! ha- but she loved them)
          • Pasta (hasn’t had a lot, but likes it since she can feed it to herself)
          • Plain yogurt or with cinnamon (she really likes it, which is awesome cuz it is cheap and easy)
          • Scrambled eggs (loved them- again cheap and easy)
          • Chick peas (a great option for finger food)

          She finds anything and everything, small or big, picks it up and puts it in her mouth. It amazes me that after I have swept the floor she still manages to find the one little crumb still left on the ground.

          Sleep: We had a rough month of sleeping through the night again! I think a lot had to do with the move and that she was teething and got her FIRST TOOTH this month (actually 2 teeth!) So I think that had a lot to do with her waking up in the night and during nap time… poor girl, hated seeing her hurting. She also has become a weasel and cries (sometimes screams) at us to come get her at bedtime… I know that nothing is wrong because we changed her diaper, she was fed, we gave her meds when she was teeth and did the nightly bed time routine and every time we would run in to check on her she would smile and giggle real big at us while looking straight at the door and she would calm down as soon as we picked her up– yup we were suckers. Finally we decided we had to be strong and not let her win. So after several nights (maybe a week) of letting her “cry it out” and going in every 5-10 minutes to pat her bottom and whisper to her she has finally stopped doing that (for now anyway…) There were several nights where we let her cry for like 20 minutes- so so tough as a parent, but we knew nothing was wrong and she would eventually fall asleep.

          We are in trouble with this face (above)… look at those eyes- how could we say “no” to them?! And notice her pacci… it is upside down- this is how it usually is since she puts it in herself now.

           

          Other:

          *Like I said above she got her first teeth this month! On June 25th I was getting her ready for bed and she was being fussy and so I was like, “are you getting a tooth?!”(which I had often checked before when she was fussy and nothing..) and so I stuck my figure in her mouth and sure enough I felt a tooth (left side)!! Such a cool moment- love being part of such big milestones in her life. It took about a week for the right one to join and then another week for them to come in… which equalled lots of drool, tears, cuddles, teething tablets, and time with momma. She really only wanted me for about two weeks and wouldn’t play on her own or be two feet from me…. as much as I loved it, it was a long two weeks…

          It was quite the task to get a picture of those pearly whites, but I finally got one!

          *She went swimming in her baby float for the first time on Father’s day and loved it!

          * We celebrated Father’s day with a fun family day at home and at the pool. What a great dad Chase has become! He is so patient, loving, fun, and takes such good care of Lydia. I never worry about her when I leave her at home with him. He is so great and gets up with her in the middle of the night or early mornings and brings her to me (often he hears her crying when I don’t even budge!). He make her laugh all.the.time. It makes me love him more seeing how much he loves our baby girl.

          She was d.o.n.e. with swimming and ready to eat!

          *She started clapping this month! She does it all the time now and gets so excited when she does it.

          * She has started to say “dadadadada” this month… don’t think she really associates it with Chase but she is defiantly making more sounds and different ones. She is quite vocal.

          *Her crawling speed has sped up! I turn around for one second and she is in another room… I have to remember to make sure doors are closed and the baby gate is up!

          * She has started reaching for you when you go to pick her up- so sweet.

          *She loves to skype and FaceTime with family back home- its like she knows what we are about to do– she gets really excited when I start signing on and when she hears the ringing- you are loved by our Liddy Bug family! I wish we could see you in person more often but so thankful she is getting to know you through the internet- what a blessing!

          *People are always telling us, “what a happy baby you have”, “does she ever cry?”, “is she always smiling?” … yes she cries, but generally she has such a happy sweet spirit and will smile for just about anyone.

          *She is waving a whole lot more, and even without us showing her first… she has started to even do it when she is leaving the room… she looks back at us a waves her little fingers at us.

          *We have started teaching her baby signs- “more”, “please” and “all done”– so far she hasn’t really picked it up yet, but we will keep trying!

          *She loves to drink water from a big girl cup, especially when dad feeds it to her… of course it makes her clothes soaking wet, but she has fun doing it, so it’s worth it.

          *She has been way more cuddly this month, which we love love!

          This lasted about .2 seconds, but was still super sweet…

          We love you sweet Liddy May. You have such a sweet loving personality. You are easy going, lovable, kissable, friendly active, busy, cute and so much more. We love watching you grow- can’t believe how big you have gotten… Thank you for making this parent thing such a joy. 

          We love you,

          mom & dad

           

            Posted in Mcnugget | 5 Comments

            eight months

            Clothes: My little peanut can still wear 3-6 month clothes, 6 month and 9 month… not really sure how that works out, but the different brands all fit so differently. This month she has discovered the bow and won’t keep it in– and of course puts it directly into her mouth= chocking hazard! She even feels on top of her head of something when there isn’t even a bow. So, we are putting the bows up for a bit 🙁

            Sleep: In the middle of packing, moving, and transition Lydia has been sleeping pretty good. She generally goes to bed between 8 and 9 and sleeps till 7 am. She then takes a nap till 10 or 11 and then again any where from 1 -3. Every once and a while she take a quick 20 min nap around 5 or 6. Lately she has just wanted me to put her to sleep. We have gotten into a little routine with getting ready for bed, nursing, rocking, singing (yes I sing to her, and only to her… sweet girl likes it 😉 ). She still sleeps with a swaddle without her arms wrapped or a sleep sack. She has to have her pacci to sleep and will grab it from my lab when she is down nursing and ready to sleep- too cute & way to little to be acting so old!

            Food: Lydia is still nursing about 5-6 times a day and eating 1-2 solid “meals” a day.  We have been on the go so much this month with moving, packing, and shopping that I have been as consistent as I would like to be with trying out new foods. I am hoping now that we are in our house and the kitchen is getting more settled she will get more variety of foods. She is liking foods much more and is way more curious when we are eating and generally wants to eat with us. She continues to eat from a spoon better for dad better than me- he likes that he gets to share this new experience with her.

            On the menu this month:

            • Lentils with sweet potatoes, celery, and onions (I found the recipe in a baby food book & she loves it)
            • Applesauce (loved it)
            • Bananas (loves them mushed up with rice, not by themselves yet)
            • Bread (Arab, wheat, white, all of it- she likes it)
            • Baby biscuits (loves them)
            • Sweet potato puffs (loves them and is so cute picking them up & putting them in her month)
            • Grapes cut up (loves the insides and spits out the skins)
            • Mangos (not sure about these yet)
            • Peaches (loved)
            • Apples (she got a hold of Chase’s apple that he had taken a few bites out of and loved it! It entertained her for a while as she tried to bite/suck out the juices)
            She also had her first bean, potato chip and piece of chicken at a locals house! Oh and we had McDonalds for our first meal at our new house an we gave her a fry (great parenting I know, but of course she loved it!).
            Other:

            * About a week after Liddy started scooting on her belly she figured out how to crawl on her knees and has been on the go ever since. She seriously never sits still. It is so fun to watch her grow, learn, explore and discover.

            * Around the same time as crawling (I didn’t write down the dates! ah- mid May) she started pulling up on stuff! She loves to stand and looks so proud of her self when she does it.

            * On May 18th Liddy waved hi for the first time! She doesn’t do it consistently, but every once and a while she will bust it out again- so fun!

            * On May 30th she stood up in her crib for the first time! I was sitting in her room packing up her dresser and I looked up right as she was pulling up and then stood. It made her look so much bigger/older than she is. It was also great timing because we  took down her crib the next day for the move- so at the new house we lowered it.

            * On May 31st she let go of the box of toys she was holding on to while standing and stood for a few seconds on her own! I couldn’t believe it. She attempts to do it more, but doesn’t have much luck- still working on strengthening her tummy muscles… I am in no rush for her to walk and stand, but i have a feeling it will be happening sooner than later.

            * Lately at night when I am nursing her when she is tired and ready for bed she reaches in my lap and grabs her pacci, puts it in and lays back down… it is the cutest thing- makes her look so big!

            * I love it when I am cuddling her and her pacci is in and Chase walks in the room and she gives him the biggest pacci smile there ever way- warms our heats

            * She is still loving Praise Baby- she will sit for the entire 30 minutes and watch the video- it has been such a help while packing and unpacking. She cries out when it ends.

            * When she plays she loves to crawl all over you.

            * She responds really well to Liddy Bug- not as much to Lydia… wonder if she will be confused in first grade when the call her name? She may tell them, “No, I go by liddy bug”! ha

            * She loves to stick her fingers in your mouth and then laughs.

            * When you kiss the bottom of her feet she giggles and giggles.

            * She has been such a trouper with our move- just going with the flow in the midst of boxes and packing, but I do feel like she has been more attached to me lately- which i will never complain about.

            Still haven’t gotten the chance to weigh her, but my arms can tell she is defiantly growing! Out here you don’t have to take them to the doctor again till they are a year for their one year shot, so hoping we won’t have to take her in till then!

            We love you sweet Liddy bug! So thankful for you. You melt our hearts and every time we think of you, you bring smiles to our faces. Can’t believe we are 4 months away from having you in our arms for a year!

            love, momma & daddy

              Posted in Mcnugget | 4 Comments

              seven month old baby girl

              (warning there are lots of pics on this blog… couldn’t decide which ones to use!)

              All she was interested in was eating that flower on her shirt 😉 

              “what I can remove this sticker… and put in my mouth?!”

              Clothes: Lydia can still wear 3-6 month clothes, but fits really well in 6 month, 6-9 month is pretty big on her. She is still wearing size 2 diapers and has had a lot less blow-outs since starting solids… not sure if I ever wrote about it before, (sorry if this is TMI- I am sure someday I will want to remember this?!) but she was infamous for her blow-outs, she prob had one at least twice a week if not more for about 5 months of her life… lots.of.laundry. I love putting Lydia in just about anything.. she is so fun to dress up! It is hard right now because outside and in the car it is HOT, but in the home the A/Cs are on and so different clothing is needed for each location- love baby legs for this reason- easy to put on and take off! (and great for crawling babies- that will be info for next month thou…) Oh and she just about always has a bow in! My mom’s friends asked her if she sleeps in bows!- no, but she does have one in from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep 🙂

              Sleep: Praise Jesus this has been a much better month of sleep! She has gotten herself into a nice little routine- goes to bed between 8:30 – 9 pm and sleeps till about 6:30-7, back down at 8- 10:30/11 and then naps again for about an hour and a half in the afternoon. Now this is by no means everyday… this is just what I would call her “normal”, but really what is “normal” with an infant?! For example, she woke up at 3:30 am wanting to eat last night…? who knows?! And somedays she only takes a 45 minute nap in the afternoons… not a fan of those ones 😉 But overall she is doing much better with sleep and loving her own room/crib and so are momma & daddy!


              Food: She is still nursing about 5-6 times a day and eating solids 1-2 times a day. I must say, exclusively breast feeding is much more convienent, there have been several nights where we have completely missed giving her solids because of our busy schedule and/or because I forgot! Luckily, she is still getting most of (if not all) what she needs from me right now. Most of the time we have been adding rice cereal or oatmeal to the veggies that she has been introduced to. I have been making my own, mostly because it is cheaper and we only have apples and bananas in our local grocery store. I by no means judge any mom that doesn’t make her own baby food… it can be time consuming and overwhelming. But once you get a routine going it’s not so bad.

              On the menu this month has been:

              • Green beans (didn’t love those… we will keep trying)
              • Sweet Potatoes (loved these- of course!)
              • Pumpkin (verdit is still out on this one)
              • Avocado (she liked it by the 3rd try!)
              • Carrots (yummmy, but messy messy)
              • Cucumber sticks (she loves these!)
              I have also given her pears and apples in the food catchers and she has really liked those, especially the pears. We add cinnamon to the oatmeal to add a little different flavor and probably because I love cinnamon so much, I want her to, too! 🙂 She eats much better for her dad.. not sure if he is just quicker, more fun, or what, but man she loves it when he feeds her.
              On a side note, I have to resist wiping her hands and mouth after every bite… My cleanly nature/desire is slowly being forced taken away from me… I am glad for it though, they are only this small for so long, I want to enjoy the mess and not fret about it 🙂

              Travel: We have mostly stuck close to home this month again. Except for going to S0har a few times to find our new house. She is still a pretty good traveler, but just gets board easier and doesn’t sleep as much in her carseat.

              Other cute stuff she had been up to: 

              * On May 5th Liddy started scooting on her belly!! She is on the move- it’s game time around our house, cuz we have a busy bee. (I guess that technically happened in her 8th month, but close enough)

              * She went to the pool for the first time this month and loved it. She was so cute splashing around and trying to grab for her toys. We have about a month left of pool weather (only in the mornings & evenings since it is already reaching 108 degrees!!) so I am hoping we will get to take her several more times.

              * She has been “walking” around in our kitchen in the walker. It is so cute to see/hear her moving around the kitchen while I cook.

              * We love love her giggles and she is super tickle-ish, so we can get lots of sweet giggles out of her.

              * She loves watching the Praise Baby videos, which is one of the only times she sits  still (unless she is sleepy). (the pic above is her watching it…)

              * We got her a jumper toy (got a great deal- was looking forever and could only find ones for $200 for the same kind we could have gotten in the states for $80!, but we got this one for $70!) She really likes it, but doesn’t like to stay in it for too long…

               * She is a great helper buddy to have around while I do laundry, clean, cook, & now pack! ha No, but really she does pretty good, I just have to keep one eye on her because she is a fast scooter and very curious. 🙂

              * She still loves people and to be out and about. The other day when we went to go visit our new house, I was joking with our new neighbor that she could take Lydia home with her and I would come get her to feed her in an hour… I’m guessing that the joke didn’t translate in Arabic because she shut our gate and walked out! I looked at Chase and waited to hear cries, but nothing. I decided to follow her anyway and asked if I could join cuz I didn’t want to leave my baby girl. It worked out great because I got to meet all sorts of new neighbors! What a sweet door opener she is for us.

              * Turns out Lydia loves puppies, which makes her daddy’s heart very happy. I just hope she doesn’t have allergies like her momma…

              * I am not sure if it’s because I have had my camera in her face since day one of her life or what, but it just seems like she poses/smiles for the camera. Which of course, I love.

              * I have been wanting to take pictures with Lydia in this adorable pink tutu since she was 6 months old and have never made it to the park where I wanted to take them, so I finally decided to just take them in our yard… the tricky part was at 6:45 pm (right before the sun went down) it was still 106 degrees outside!! So it was a quick photo shoot.

              I wasn’t sure if she was going to do as well with how mobile she is these days, but I feel like she still did good!

              * She loves to press her lips together and blow out when she is playing, after she wakes up, before she eats, just about whenever…

              * When she gets excited about stuff she opens her mouth real wide and giggles.

                Posted in Mcnugget | 3 Comments

                Easter

                I know this is several weeks late, but I still wanted to document Lydia’s first Easter!

                A few days before Easter we went to Drew and Jord’s house to dye eggs (Liddy napped- next year she will want to be involved!) and of course we had to make deviled eggs with them… Chase and I’s Easter fav.

                After the Good Friday service in her Easter Dress!

                love this grin of hers

                Our 3rd sunrise service in the desert! I love going to this service, one of the most encouraging days of the year! Praise be to Jesus for He has Risen and Lives!

                Amazing the difference a year makes! This was taken after the service, Liddy went down for a 3 hour nap after getting up at 5:30 am. (notice Chase is wearing the same hat, but it is a bit more worn out after a year!)

                Our delicious Easter breakfast that we enjoyed with great friends!

                Easter basket time! Lydia got so excited about it… I was pleasantly surprised about it, I wasn’t sure if she would react, but she got totally into it…. it was so cute. She got a book that changes colors in the bathtub, a light up stackable toy and I made her a little bunny to chew on and covered 3 plastic eggs with yarn and filled them with beans- she loves shaking them. I also made a pacifier clip. I had so much fun putting together her basket, I look forward to many more baskets for our sweet little bug!

                Here are two other spring crafts Lydia and I made! Since we don’t really have a spring here, Jord taught me how to make flowers to bring spring to our house!

                 “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:14, 20

                  Posted in Family, Holidays, Mcnugget | Comments Off on Easter

                  half a year

                  does that mean in another half a year Lydia will be one?! Can’t be true!

                  A few things I am thankful for in the past 6 months: to be on this parenthood journey with Chase, to get to wonder if her bath water is too hot, if she is comfortable in her carseat, if she got enough milk from me, if she is crying because she has teeth coming in, to see her sit by herself for the first time, to celebrate when she does something new, to cuddle with her when she wakes up, to rock her to sleep, to feel pain when she cries, because it shows me a fraction of love that Christ has for me, to pray for her each and everyday that she would be healthy, have friends, grow to know, love and follow Jesus, and for her future husband…. am thankful to be her mom.

                  Sleep: Lydia’s 6th month has probably been her worst month of sleep thus far… For some reason (maybe teething, maybe growing… who knows?) this month she has decided to stop sleeping through the night and has been going through “nap strikes” once a week or more… sigh. I know I don’t have much room to complain as far as sleep, because overall she has been a great sleeper, but when you aren’t used to waking up in the middle of the night, it’s rough. Her favorite time as of late has been 4 am. We finally moved her to her own room/crib this last week- she has spent 2 actual nights in there because of A/C issues and traveling. We let her “cry out” both times at 4 am and she went back to sleep! And then has been waking up around 6:45 am to eat… which is totally doable. We also stopped swaddling her arms this month… she just sleeps in a sleep sack with her arms out! It took a little bit, but she can do it now. Poor girl, had to adjust to lots of changes in her sleep habits this month.

                  Clothes: She has been wearing 3-6 month and 6 month clothes. She has a ton of cute stuff that I have almost not had to repeat anything! I just love dressing her up. It is getting hotter and hotter here so we are pretty much done with socks, pants and jackets. Hello summer! I am loving putting one piece rompers on her. She is in size 2 diapers and has had less and less blow outs, which is super nice.

                  Food: She is still breastfeeding 5-7 times a day about every 3 hours. She has added the 7th feeding the middle of the night this month, but hoping we will drop it soon as she continues to sleep in her own room. We started rice cereal on March 26! She seemed to like it that day, she especially liked grabbing the spoon from me and playing with it. We have had a crazy busy two weeks so I haven’t been super consistent in giving her rice cereal (I also have given her oatmeal twice, once with cinnamon) and haven’t tried anything else, but once our guests leave I will start to introduce new stuff. I have a feeling she is not going to want to be spoon feed much and just want to do it herself- we’ll see. Oh, I also gave her a cucumber stick to suck on- she made a funny face at first, but then I think she liked it.

                  Travel: For most of this month we stuck close to home. It was so nice. She actually got to take most of her naps in her own bed and not the carseat… a first for her. At the end of the month we did take a trip to Sohar and two other coastal cities, Sur and Muscat. She has become a little more impatient in the carseat for long trips- I think she gets board, looking at pics on my phone still calms her down & makes her giggle… I am going to need to put some movies on our iPad soon and get a strap for the car so she can watch stuff… crazy that even at this age they love technology.

                  New Tricks and other fun stuff: 

                  * March 28 she started sitting all by herself with no help! At the beginning of the month she could do it with my help or a pillow, but then just one day she stayed for over a minute without our help! Its crazy how quickly that changes. She still needs us to be close by because she will topple over eventually.

                  can you tell I couldn’t decide which picture to use?!

                  *She loves the walker that we are borrowing from a friend (thanks Katie)- its so cute to see how excited she gets in it, she also moves backward in it.

                  *She rolls over from front to back and back to front really well now and loves doing it.

                  *She pushes up on her arms and turns herself in circles and looks like crawling is just around the corner! (at least scooting)

                  *She loves to hear herself “talk” and has been really working on her vocal cords- sometimes she is so loud Chase and I can’t hear each other over her! I think we will have a talker on our hands- not sure where she got that from?? 😉

                  *She lays on her back and scoots all around the room on her back, thus causing her too keep her bald spot on the back her head!

                  *She loves to stand and jump. She.does.not.sit.still. She is going to be an active one… again,  not sure where she gets that from? 😉

                  *She still loves people, she lights up when people talk to her and give her attention. Our little social butterfly. However, if a local woman with a black shayla (head scarf) on takes her from me she sticks out her bottom lip and cries, however, a local with a colored shayla she is just fine…

                  *She loves the sound of wipe packages, playing/sucking on water bottles, my Chewbeads are still a huge hit, playing with her feet, she responds to her name being called and laughs for no reason- just cuz she is a happy girl.

                  *She got her first drink of water this month… she wasn’t quite sure what to do with the water bottle at first, but now likes it!

                  *She went to the zoo for the first time this month, she mostly slept through it, but It was fun to have her there with us.

                  *Whenever you have something in your hand or something is in front of her and she sees it she opens her mouth real wide, bobs her heads, and leans in to try and put it in her mouth! It is too cute.

                  Stats: (on March 28th- 6 month check up)

                  *Weight: 15 lbs. 4 oz., 50%

                  *Height: 25.8 inches, 50%

                  Liddy bug, 

                  We love you so much! What a wonderful half a year it has been! You make our hearts swell with joy. Sometimes we just go into your room and look at you while you are sleeping and smile at each other. We still can’t believe you are ours and that God loaned us you to raise, love and cherish always. You have grown and learned so much this month! So fun to watch. Happy half birthday sweet angel. 

                  love, momma & daddy 

                    Posted in Mcnugget | 2 Comments

                    lots of firsts

                    this is a post that I have been wanting to write since Lydia’s first bath! Better late than never right? And now I have lots more “firsts” to share! So crazy/fun to see how tiny she was and how new everything was… and continues to be as we encounter all her firsts!

                    first manicure… looking forward to the days of doing nails with my baby girl

                    we were so nervous to cute those teeny tiny nails- thanks Gramzi for the help!

                    first bath on October 6th

                    Gramzi teaching me how to do it while daddy video taped… super hard when they are so tiny & slippery

                    excited first time parents! (looking lovely at 3 days postpartum…)

                    oh so sweet, cuddly, clean, and smelling good!

                    first time in bouncy chair- not interested in her toys yet…

                    first walk and ride in the stroller

                    loved getting out and enjoying the weather as it was starting to cool off especially with my momma

                    first playdate with her buddy kg

                    first halloween- she was the life of the party!

                    first thanksgiving

                    first plane ride… and best of all it was to America to go home and meet our all her loved ones for the first time

                    1 Samuel 1:27-28  I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.  So now I give him to the LORD.  For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.   

                      Posted in Everyday Life, Family, Mcnugget | 1 Comment