The Right Formula

 Here is what I've learned in a nutshell about baby formula:

1. Despite the fact that all the ingredients and amounts are listed as the exact same on the can, Generic Brand Formula is NOT the same as Brand Name Formula. (different smell, different texture, doesn't mix the same, etc).
2. A 7 month old can tell the difference.

I guess after having the cream of the crop for 7 months, Miss Mo doesn't want anything to do with Generic Brand formula. I got a call from the babysitter today saying she was REFUSING to eat: spitting it out, letting it run down the sides of her mouth, sticking her tongue out, etc.

Sure enough, I went and bought the regular formula we've been using, went to the babysitter's, and made her a bottle. She's been eating great ever since...

Makes me wonder if this won't be the only resistance against "budget cuts" by our little Princess...

Summer 2011...Part 1

I do this every time. I tell myself I will post more often, then next thing I know, another month has flown by. Then again, I was so busy soaking up every moment with Moriah this summer because I knew it would be over far too soon and I didn't want to look back and wish I had been more present in the moments with her. I'm happy to say I have no regrets and that I truly did soak up and enjoy all the special time we had together. From starting baby food, taking naps together, going to visit family, taking a road trip, playing with Daddy, singing and babbling, and sometimes wearing our PJs all day, this was such a precious summer I will never forget.

Billy and I went on our 7th Anniversary date to Shoguns in July. We had an awesome time! I grabbed Miss Mo as soon as we walked into the door!

Billy and me at Shoguns....yum!!

This was Moriah's 1st time for baby food...I started with the grossest one...Peas! Figured we could only get better from there!

Notice she had no expression at first...until the peas hit her taste buds. "Mom, these are gross!" Poor thing literally shivered after she swallowed them.

Although she gagged and quivered when eating them, after eating only peas for 2 days, she started to like them! And she still likes them to this day, even after introducing a host of other foods!

Now for the Never-Ending Road Trip of The Summer...Indianapolis! Here we are at the Layaway section of a Wal-Mart somewhere between here and Indy having a meal!

Here's Moriah stretching out on the hotel bed after the long trip!

A view of (the bottom of) the beautiful JW Marriott from the outside. Loved having the conference here!

Moriah, I hate to do this to you, but these are our memories...the good, the bad, and the ugly. It just so happens she did "this" in the tub the 1st night at the JW Marriott. 1st time for everything.

Hanging out on the couches outside the ballroom where Daddy was having lunch at the conference. He came out and played with us for a little bit before returning to meetings.

Here I am with none other than The Giorgio of Giorgio's Pizza in Indianapolis! He had a wall of pics with famous people who had visited Giorgio's and I told him I would have to send him this one!

Here's Moriah and her little doll as we stroll through downtown Indy another night

We ended up at PF Chang's! Yum!

Somebody was pooped before dinner was over!

Here's Daddy and Moriah at the Holiday Inn Express--the hotel we relocated to after the conference...tired much?

The rest of the Indy trip (including pics with family who came down from Chicago area to visit) will be coming up next! Stay tuned! (I would've done them all tonight but it's taken like an hour just to upload these).

Back To School

The Azleway School staff started back this week.....Meaning Moriah started her new "school" routine as well. This has been a little harder than what I expected, but with the Lord's grace, wonderful caretakers for Moriah, and a job I enjoy, we're doing alright!

Billy and I went to Gilmer Sunday night and stayed with Mom and Dad. Monday morning we went to Azleway to work in our classroom/office while Tootsie and Pop had Moriah at their house. Tuesday morning, Tootsie came to Tyler to keep her while Billy and I attended the 1st inservice meetings of the year. She also managed to do some cleaning, organizing, and grocery shopping all while taking great care of Moriah. Are we blessed or what?!

Today, I took Moriah to our friend Jennifer's house for her 1st day of "daycare." Jennifer is a SAHM that goes to our church and has a couple boys of her own. While I knew that Jennifer would do an awesome job with her, I was a little concerned that Moriah would freak out when I left her at a new place with a new person. (she's alot more aware at 6 months than she was at 10 weeks)! Jennifer was so sweet to send me some text updates throughout the day and even a pic. Turns out Moriah wasn't miserable without me after all! haha. She hardly cried all day and Jennifer's son D even asked why the baby didn't cry! Thank you Lord for helping us through this day!

There have been quite a few changes and adjustments at the beginning of this school year and for an anxious "planner type" like me it's been a good reminder that our security and peace comes in Christ, not our circumstances! May i continue to abide in Him each day and allow Him to be my strength!

So thankful for such a faithful, patient, generous God.

And a sweet, beautiful, baby girl.

And a Mom and friend who take such good care of her while I'm at work.

2 more days to go!

Family Reunion & 7th Anniversary Date

Pate Family Reunion-May 2011- Moriah "laying out" by the pool

She was precious in her little bikini and hat! Check out those rolls!

Purple Power! Moriah and Tootsie

Kyleigh working a puzzle in the lodge

Mo taking a walk - it was exceptionally windy so I was trying to cover her ears & head! haha.

Two great minds discussing the next big scientific discovery...

More wind...But still a sweet pic!

Double Trouble! Our future is so bright we have to wear shades.

July 8th-Billy and I celebrating our 7th anniversary (a couple days early) at Shoguns...yum!

The "Seven Year Itch" hasn't got us yet!

We did it big and got some McDonald's treats on the way home...oh yeah...(grin). Coffee for me. My little vice.

Happy

Billy with his M&M Mcflurry I kept eyeing

Back at home and excited to see Mo! She did great! Thanks Brent & Sarai!

What?! You went out without me?!

And now she's eyeing the McFlurry...hmmm that looks good!

Getting Kids to Follow Directions

Guess I should file this little jewel away for future use...I really enjoy the ideas from Love and Logic. They make a lot of sense. Now if I can only remember these things when the time comes!

Teaching Kids to Follow Directions
Weekly Tip from the Love and Logic^® Experts

Dear Jessica,

When you're asking your children to do things for you, do you ever feel like you're talking to a cat? I love my cats, even though they never listen to a thing I say.

Fortunately, children, unlike cats, respond well to the following strategies:

• When asking your child to do something, don't forget to say "please."
  Since we want our children to use this magic word, doesn't it make sense that we ought to model it?

• Get close to them and use a pleasant, calm voice.
  Few people respond favorably to being hollered at from across the room. Besides, do I want to train my kids to need yelling at, or would it be better if I taught them to respond to a calmer, quieter tone?

• Ahead of time, have a plan for how you'll respond to noncompliance or defiance.
  If they refuse to comply, or they dawdle about, reply, "I love you too much to fight with you about doing this. I'm going to have to do something. We'll talk about this later."
  
  Delay the consequence so that you don't find yourself in an unwinnable power-struggle.

• Resist the urge to threaten, lecture, or give repeated warnings.
  This is a tough tip for most of us! Just remember that when we use threats, lectures, and repeated warnings, we train our kids to need threats, lectures, and repeated warnings.

• Allow empathy and consequences to do the teaching.
  In our DVD, Simple Parenting Strategies, we describe how to apply a consequence when it's tough to think of one. One powerful strategy involves having your children replace energy drained from you by their noncompliance. They can do this through extra chores, doing without some fun activities that you provide, etc.
  
  The key, of course, is the empathy. Nothing works without it!

Worst Blogger Ever!

Ok, so I've really gotten totally negligent with this blogging business lately. My excuse is that I've gotten behind as a result of Procrastination (something I know nothing about! So glad I don't procrastinate with anything else in my life!) and each time I think about getting back on to blog, it seems like there's too much to catch up with. Then I feel overwhelmed, and the Real Winner in me decides to just not try and continually put it off.

To my credit, I have had a couple road blocks along the way. For example, I mustered up the motivation to post some pictures the other day (still haven't posted pics since the Family reunion back in MAY!) and when I hooked the camera up to the computer, it wouldn't connect. So I just quit and went and did something else.

I'm still waiting on the camera issue to resolve itself, but in the meantime I thought I could at least get on here and catch things up.

How do people with multiple children keep up a blog??

We had a great 4th of July in Gilmer. It was Joe & Barb, Ryan & Shanna & kids, Mom and Dad, Granny, and Billy, Mo, and I. Of course I ate more than I should've and will probably continue my 2 week streak of not losing weight at my weigh-in this week. But the watermelon, hamburgers, chicken, mashed potatoes, black-eyed peas, cookies, and key lime pie was great!

It was so fun watching the fireworks on the back deck and hearing Kyleigh and Brayden "ooh" and "ahh" over each and every firework.

"Awesome!"

"Ooooh!"

"That was my favorite!"

"AweSOME!"

"Coooool!"

"No, THAT was my favorite!"

Yep, every single firework. It was so sweet. Meanwhile, Mo was put to bed at 8:00 and slept right through the fireworks. I could even see the volume sensor lights on her monitor all light up with each fireworks, but it didn't disturb her one bit.

Since returning from Gilmer, I've yet to fully unpack. But on the other hand, we've gotten lots of projects started around the house. Not necessarily finished, but started!

Which leads me to the end of this post...got laundry to do, furniture to rearrange, baby clothes to store, checkbook to balance, and on and on. Hope to post pics soon...will check in with the camera and see if it decided to fix itself.

5 months old

Dear Moriah,

It is so hard to believe that you are 5 months old today. I feel like I've known you for so much longer than 5 months! You are still just as sweet and pleasant as ever, and you are getting more and more fun with each new stage. Your awareness and depth is so much more present than even a month or two ago. It's amazing how much you can communicate with your eyes, your facial expressions, noises, and body language! We've had a blast so far this summer...Here's what we've been up to:

* In early June, we went to Tootsie and Pop's so that Daddy could paint their deck and do some trim work on the house. You, me, and Tootsie played and hung out while Daddy and Pop worked. You started rolling over from your tummy to your back "on purpose" and much more often while we were there. The only problem is you'd start out sleeping on your tummy with a blanket, then roll over to your back and kick off the blanket. I would hear you babbling and carrying on in your playpen and have to get up to cover you back up and put you on your tummy. You did that trick several times you stinker! Other than that, you are still sleeping great!
* You made your 1st trip to the lake the Sunday we got back from Gilmer. We were really some traveling girls, let me tell ya! That weekend we went to spend with Emily, Halle, and Whitney for a girls only getaway. You took a little time to adjust to napping at the lakehouse with the noises you're not used to, but pretty soon you were loving it and having a great time! I also had to adjust to having an infant with me and not just jumping in and swimming at any time. I'd wait till you were napping, then bring the monitor out with me and put it on the deck so I could hear you while I floated around with the other girls. We also went to the lake the weekend of Daddy's birthday and celebrated with the Griffins and Tootsie and Pop. Another fun time! I can't wait for many more adventures at the lake with you! You really enjoyed playing with Em and the girls as I knew you would!
* You had your 4 month check up on June 7th (you were actually 4 1/2 mos but I wanted to wait till summer to bring you in). You were 15 lbs (more than twice your birth weight) and 25 3/4 inches long! You're in the 55th % for height and 67% for weight. Who knew you'd be such a "big girl" after all the problems we had with you losing weight early on! As your daddy says, you've got more rolls than a bakery! But they are the sweetest things and so fun to kiss and tickle! Dr. Barret was very pleased with your progress and it seems you are right on target with your development so we are very thankful for that. The only downer of the visit was of course your shots. You gave a good cry when you got them, but then calmed down and fell asleep within minutes of getting into your carseat. We had no low grade fever, irritation, or reactions so that was great.
* You went to Azleway with me and "helped" me work a couple days last week. You did really good and were very friendly to Mama's coworkers. You let several ladies hold you including Mrs. Rambo, Ms. Juanez, Ms. Michelle, and Ms. Annette at the ranch. You were definitely ready for your nap after all the socializing, though, and you fell asleep on the ride home.
* We've gone walking several times this summer with your stroller-either in the early morning or later in the evening when it's not so dadgum HOT!

Things You're Doing Right Now:
* still sleeping about 9-11 hrs per night (thank you Lord!). still taking about 3 naps per day. no complaints here!
* taking a bottle every 3 1/2 - 4 hrs (about 6-7 ozs per bottle). We're going to work some cereal into your diet very soon. You've tried it at Tootsie's and liked it!
* babbling, laughing, and shrieking/squealing when you get excited! you especially like to get loud and rowdy with your Daddy...(big shocker).
* you are quite the social smiler and have such a sweet, beautiful smile!
* you can roll over from your tummy to back but haven't mastered rolling from back to tummy yet
* you are sitting up with support
* when you're on your tummy, you like to raise up on your forearms, lift your chest up and look around.
* in general, you are just so much more alert and aware and involved
* for the last couple of weeks, you've been chewing a LOT on your fingers and also your thumb. you're drooling more as well. wonder if we have a tooth coming in our near future??
* you love to grab and put things in your mouth!

Moriah, you are such a gift. You are sweet, beautiful, funny, patient, friendly, you have a sense of humor, you're very observant, and you're an effective yet polite communicator. I can't wait to see how your personality continues to blossom and grow. We love you so much and hope this summer lasts forever! ; ) Love Always, Mama

Here's a pic of Moriah in her Aggie Cheerleading outfit her Grandma got for her. I'll do my best to post more pics soon.  Gig 'em Ags!