First day of swim lessons

Today was Alyssa's first day of swimming lessons. I wasn't sure exactly how the facility was so I got us already at home and planned on wearing our cover ups home. Alyssa was in one of her little swimsuits and she got to wear a Dora swim diaper for the first time. We got to Forest Park in Everett and put our belongings into the locker room. We then headed to the shower to rinse off before heading out to the pool. The pool is huge and they have picnic tables and benches for other friends/family members to watch at. The instructor, Ewan, had us get into the pool and explained how things would go. There would be some free play time and song time. Song time was great. We sang songs that everyone new with water movement. Alyssa loved it, especially when we did jumping in the pool. She never did get fussy. I was a little worried about that because the lessons are right at nap time. She was rubbing her eyes a few times but remained a good sport and kept playing and kicking. It was a fun time. I hope she continues to enjoy it. I have her signed up thru November so if things continue to go well I will sign her up for more.
she is doing absolutely fabulous. She continues to change day by day. She loves playing in her exersaucer and turning around in it. Her bottom front teeth continue to come in and I noticed her front top in is starting to come out. I can see a little white tip poking out. She has been relatively unfussy from this. When she does start to fuss tho I put some Orajel on it and give her a little Tylenol and she is good to go.

First trip to the beach

The family just got back from our mini vacation down to Long Beach WA. We spent four days down there and had a great time. The weather was wonderful. We stayed at Cory's Uncle Dick and Aunt Donna's cabin who were there with us along with Corys parents. When we got down there we fed Alyssa and she went down for a nap and we went and got her a bunch of sand toys ready to go play. After a few hours of hanging out at the cabin and letting the dogs run-a-muck Alyssa got up and we headed down to the beach.


One of our favorite things to do is drive on the beach and take it all in. It's one of the most relaxing things to do. So we were off. Corys parents and their dog and us and our dog all headed down. We found our spot and we let the dogs out and they were in seventh heaven. Harley loves the sand. Cory took some drift wood, a relatively small piece, and was throwing it for Harley. No piece of wood is too small for Harley. I swear he is the strongest dog. Anyways, Harley brought it back and was trying to bury it as he was kicking up sand all over everyone else. It was so funny.


Alyssa wasn't enjoying it as much as everyone else was. We got her out and all laid out on the blanket with a rake and lobster thing and she just was not having any of it. She started out OK sitting on the blanket and feeling the sand. After a few moments she just started fussing and would not stop. I figured she was tired because she hadn't had that long of a nap. So no biggie I put her back in her carrier in the car and she was fine. She sat there and played with her toys and was happy as a bug. We hung out for a little while longer and then we headed back to the cabin for some more relaxation and fun.

We played some scrabble, Wii, and had way too much great food. The next day was more of the same driving on the beach in the morning with our cup of coffee, going into town and checking out some of the stores and stuff We got Alyssa her first water bottle with her name on it. It's very cute. We also realized why she had been so fussy the day before her second tooth has popped out. It's her other bottom front tooth. It literally came out of nowhere. So now our little girl has two teeth. They are not all the way out yet but I would say probably about 1/4 out. It's very cute you can see them when she smiles.


She is doing so well. It's amazing because every day she changes and accomplishes new things. She can now sit up by herself for long periods and play. She is also playing with her toys more and trying to figure them out. She also loves to stand. Her legs are sooooooo strong.
Well tomorrow I am taking her to her Great Grammy's house for her to watch for the day because I am going back to work at my old job as a temp employee. It will be weird leaving Alyssa, I know she will be in great hands, but for the reason I am leaving her. It's been wonderful being able to stay home with her and I honestly don't think I would trade it for anything.
We will have an exciting week ahead of us. On Tuesday we start swim lessons! I think I talked about those before but I can't wait for them.

Each day a milestone

Well it finally happened, her tooth is starting to come out. It's her lower left front tooth and its razor sharp. She keeps running her tongue over it which I am surprised it hasn't cut it yet. I don't know how long it will take for it to come all the way out but it's on its way. I'm amazed that she hasn't been all that fussy about it either. She's drooling like crazy and enjoys putting the cloth diaper in her moth and chewing on it. Yes it is a clean one, I don't use them for diapers.

I have Alyssa all signed up for her swim lessons that she starts on September 9. She will have those two times a week for 30 min. I am pretty curious to see what kind of things we will be doing. It's a class for 6 months - 3 yrs and introduction to water. I am very excited for that because she loves playing in the bath tub. Although she cried the other night but I think that's because she didn't like the bubble machine I got her. It was pretty loud. I have been trying to find some fun bath toys but I am having a hard time finding any good ones.

I have also bought a great book on sign language and we are going to start trying it. It's going to take a lot of persistence from us but I think if we can stick it out it will be worth it. It's very basic but if we can do it, it will be a great way to start communicating with her before she actually starts talking. From the look of the book that I have it's actually pretty easy to do and easy to remember.

She is also starting to sit up on her own. She can do it for several seconds before getting wobbly and falling over. At least she doesn't get upset when she tips over or hurt yet. She's enjoying building her leg muscles, she loves standing, and I honestly can't wait until I can start chasing her around. OK so I might be saying in a few months that I regret ever saying that! She is also enjoying kicking her legs and especially when she is on a surface where she can make noises. She gets so proud of herself when she does this, it's actually pretty cute.

She adores Harley. She laughs at him and her face lights up whenever he comes around it's the cutest thing ever. The other day Alyssa, Harley and I were all playing on the floor and he brought over his ball and put it next to her. She started playing with it rolling it and he started playing with his chew ring, because if you know him he always carries two toys with him.

Food, Food, Food

I think Alyssa and I are having fun trying out new types of food. Her tasting them and me making them. At this point the front runners are broccoli and applesauce. I don't know which one she likes more but she gobbles them up quick. I've been buying the apple sauce at this point but might try and make it this fall. She also likes her sweet potatoes, sorry dad! One of the bought jars, the turkey dinner, she absolutely hates which I don't blame her it was nasty. She also didn't like the bananas that I mashed up for her but hopefully they will grow on her because I use them a lot. I found this great website that I have been using for ideas and stuff. It's amazing all the different things you can make and how much cheaper it is to use "normal" food instead of the baby food. I added this link to our site as well. It's amazing the things that I have learned on their about food especially the berries. For example that strawberries and blackberries are considered an exotic fruit but not kiwi. And blueberries and cranberries aren't considered to be a "true" berrie which they consider mild to highly allergenic. Anyways it's a great website with lots and lots of info. I have just been taking plain vegetables and pureeing them at this point, I'm going to do spinach and carrots next. I will have to try some of the recipes on the site they don't sound all that bad.

I'm getting excited because we are heading down to Long Beach for a few days on Labor Day. This is somewhere where Cory and I spent a lot of time growing up since we were only an hour and a half away from. So it will be fun to bring her out there and drive on the beach. Surprising that hasn't been outlawed in Washington yet. Our doctor gave us some good advice about her eating sand tho. His daughter had done this recently who is nine months old and it went right thru her. So when he was changing the diaper the sand was there and he had taken a wipe and it became like sand paper on her behind. Poor girl. So he advised us not to do that and just rinse off. It was actually quite comical when he was telling us the story. Something that I guess you wouldn't really think of either. Kids are going to eat the sand and it does have to come out so anyways we are really looking forward to bringing the family down there. Hopefully there will be some nice weather, although I prefer it stormy!

Six month check up

Alyssa is a perfectly healthy baby! She is 26.25inches, 18.11lbs and 17.25 HC. If anyone wants to find out what percent that is you can check it out on the calculator I have added to the website. The doctor couldn't believe at how laid back she was and calm about everything. Our doctor is wonderful he is so very laid back and helpful we really lucked out. She got four more shots and only cried for about 15 seconds or so on the last one and than was back to ripping up the paper on the table she was laying on or whatever you want to call them.

I thought that she was going to weigh a lot more than what she does but I am happy that she is not a huge baby despite her many chins!!!! Once we got her home, we went out to lunch afterwards and ran some errands, she ate and went straight to bed. She was getting pretty fussy since she hadn't had her morning nap. When she got up later she was still pretty fussy, I am chalking that up to getting those shots, and she ate and played with Cory for awhile and fell asleep laying in his arms. It was the most precious thing. Nothing melts my heart more than to see those two together.

Well 9 days until one of the most exciting days of the year! You might be asking what that is. It's Cougar kick off, and yes Lisa's birthday!!!!!! We'll see how well they will do on Saturday August 30th when they play Oklahoma State. They have a new coach so this will probably be a rebuilding year for them but it doesn't matter how many games they win or lose as long as they beat those stupid Dawgs it will be a successful year! GO COUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The weekend in Longview

Well last Wednesday Alyssa, Harley and I all headed down to Longview for the weekend. We had a busy week planned. On Thursday I headed down to Vancouver/Portland with my Mother-in-law to attend the Phantom of the Opera with her and my sister-in-law, Amanda. We had a good time. It was my first time seeing the performance and it was fantastic despite the really hot weather. On Friday my mom had wrist surgery so I spent all day assisting her and hanging out with my dad. Alyssa was at her other grandmothers house and Harley was at day care. The rest of the weekend was more of helping my mom out and avoiding the almost unbearable heat down there.

Cory and two of his friends were down at Straddleline ORV Park riding and camping. They had a good time despite getting lost in the Olympic National Forest because they were unable to ride at the park because of the Off Road Championships that they were not aware of when the trip was originally planned. So off to the forest they went. After several hours of being lost and finally reconnecting at camp not all was lost because the ice cream lady dressed in pink with her pink jeep came by and the manly men got their ice cream and sat around reminiscing about their adventures of the day. There was so much more to this story but I won't bore everyone with all the details. I'm just glad that everyone was uninjured and eventually safe.

Sunday I headed home and all of us were glad to be back and be sleeping in our own beds. Especially Harley who has a hard time sleeping while away because he is so excited and doesn't want to miss out on anything and the awesome thunder and lighting storms that we were having down there it was great. Well all is back to normal for awhile anyhow. Alyssa has her six month appointment on Wednesday and we are getting ready for our next vacation on Labor Day.

Aquasox

Alyssa attended her first Everett Aquasox game on Thursday. It was a good time. We enjoy watching them and I hope she will to as she gets older. She was in pretty good spirits for most of the game. She did get a little fussy but after a quick nap she was good to go and was flirting with the young men behind us. We like attending these games so much better than the Mariner's because it's cheaper, closer to home, no big crowds, and the players seem to "want it" a little more. Not saying the other players don't but when your trying to get to the "show" it seems the players try a little harder than when you already have a multi-million dollar contract. Plus in the seventh inning hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza are all on sale for around $1. Now how can you beat that if you can wait that long to get one. I can't wait to take her to more of these games and the Everett Silvertips, hockey, this next season. I'm kind of excited because as we walked in the gates they were giving away baseballs to all the children, and we got one!!! We have finally arrived at that point that we qualify for the children's promotional items! Alyssa was very interested in the plastic wrapper it was in and when I took the ball out of it she was trying to grasp it but was having a hard time.

Mr. and Mrs. McKinney

What a busy week we had. Last Thursday, July 30, I took Alyssa down to Lacy and met her Grandma Simmons who was going to take her for the week. Let me tell you that was the hardest thing I had to do. At first I thought it was going to be a nice break but after a day or so I was ready for my little one to be back with her parents. The long drive back sucked because the Blue Angels were practicing, if you ever get a chance to see them it's a must! Last year I got to work in the "tower" so I was right there in the middle of it all and it was an amazing site. Anyhow Cory and I had some weddings to attend, a friends on Friday and than Saturday we were off to Gardnerville Nevada for my nephews wedding.

My nephew Jason married Melissa who was a beautiful bride. I couldn't be happier for the two of them. I know they will have a great life together. They have a gorgeous little boy, Jackson, who is 9 months old. I can't wait for Alyssa and Jack to get older and be able to play together.

The weather was awesome. They had a nice quick ceremony and than a great party at my sister's house. It's so bizarre to think of my little nephew being married and a father! I remember when he would come over in the summers and knock on my bedroom door to wake me up and run down the hall laughing. Anyone that knows Jason he has such a great laugh and to this day I can still here him and Nicole laughing as they were trying to wake me up. I am very proud and happy for him!

So after the wedding on Saturday Cory and I stayed down there for a few more days to enjoy a mini vacation. We enjoyed our time really just hanging out. On Monday we ended up going to Lake Tahoe to lay out on the beach and enjoy some rays. We went to this neat park called Camp Richardson. We laid out for about an hour or two and enjoyed the water. It was kind of comical so the beach isn't that packed and there is plenty of room around. We are laying out and there is a little room next to Nicole and the family next to us. When I say a little room for probably two people but that is with them invading your personal bubble. So this lady comes and puts a chair almost on top of Nicole puts her little umbrella up and starts spraying her sunscreen on herself as it was blowing onto Nicole and her book. I wish I would have been able to take pictures of this. The lady acted all surprised that it got Nicole and everything. I mean don't people know proper beach etiquette?!?! After this we ended up leaving and going to get lunch there at the beach and it was fabulous. They are known for their Rum Runner drinks. They are good but they could definitely sneak up on you. Later that night us girls went and saw Mama Mia which is a fantastic movie. Tuesday we headed home.

On Wednesday I headed to Longview to pick up Alyssa, but not before heading to the airport to pick up one of my closest friends for the last twelve years. Miranda! She hadn't got to meet Alyssa yet so she was very excited. It was great seeing her again. She's been living down in the LA area now for the last five or so years. I can't wait till Alyssa is old enough to go down there and we can go to Disneyland. Miranda bought Alyssa a Cabbage Patch doll which Alyssa actually enjoyed playing with or at least putting the hair in her mouth. I have a feeling it will be one of her favorite dolls she has.

Alyssa has been doing well. She is growing like a weed and enjoying her applesauce. I have started pureeing her food and made some broccoli so hopefully she likes it. It's know surprise that she likes the sweeter foods better but I am going to keep trying with the others. It's so easy to make your own food. I had people on both sides of it telling me what to do and obviously I did what I thought would be best. So the adventure in food making continues. I also bought Jessica Seinfelds cookbook, which is adding puree vegetables to common meals and you don't even realize it's there. Basically it's for children who don't eat their vegetables to get some. I have tried a couple of the recipes and they are great you really can't tell. Alyssa has her six month appointment coming up and I am very excited to see how much she has grown since her last one.