Swim Lessons

We finally made it back to swim lessons after being sick for awhile. I still have my cough but other than that we are all good to go. Cory was able to go to his first swim lesson with Alyssa. He had a good time seeing what she did. She was playing with the ball and trying to eat it, of course. I would throw it a little in front of us and have her try to grab it. She did pretty good considering the water obviously moving it and everything. Alyssa is learning how to pick up her strawberry apple puffs but hasn't figured out how to put it in her mouth yet. These are great because they are somewhat like cheerios but the dissolve in your mouth so you don't have to worry as much about choking. She has enjoyed eating them and crunching down with her teeth. She was startled the first time that she did this and the sound it made her expression was priceless.

Not much more has been going on. Cory is winding down from working Mariners and I have been busy with working part time and taking care of everything else at the house. We have some fun stuff coming up, a couple of concerts, golfing, and a trip over to Lake Chelan and of course Halloween. I can't wait to go and pick up our pumpkins from the farm and bring them back and carve them. It's great because right down the road from us we have this wonderful farm, Carleton Farm, that has a corn maze, a pumpkin cannon, hay rides and animals. As well as a lot of great produce, homemade jams/jelly's, salsa, and salad dressings. This place is great! If you haven't been there you should definitely go. Of course it will be a lot more fun once Alyssa is older but it will still be a blast! Cory has also informed me that since he is done with Mariners it's back to hitting the gym hard and eating good again. So I am going to try and not make any more desserts. We will see how well that goes. I need to find a happy medium with this. Especially since the holidays are coming up and I want to start some traditions with Alyssa that I did with my mom growing up.

A long.....boring.....week

This week has been very long and boring. Alyssa and I have both been sick and pretty much haven't left the house in a week except for today! It was great to be out even tho we just went to Babies R Us to find a couple items and out to the grocery store. She is feeling better, I think, and I am somewhat day to day. Alyssa has been in a great mood for having a cold tho, I swear this child never seems to get that cranky I am just waiting for the hammer to drop tho.

She is starting to be able to stand up holding onto stuff for a little while. She can't pull herself up but she will stand there and after a few seconds she seems to want to move but can't figure out how and starts whining. Its actually quite cute. I also have gotten her some crackers for her to see if she can figure out what to do with them. She did, they went pretty much straight to her mouth after banging them on her high chair tray. That's not saying too much because almost everything is going straight into her mouth at this point. Her front bottom teeth are still coming in. I'm surprised at how long they are actually taking to come all the way in. Tonight was the first time that she actually was almost in a crawling position. She got her bottom and legs in the position and was trying to figure out what to do but couldn't and then would hit the floor and push herself up with her arms. Hopefully it's only a matter of time before she starts to crawl. At that moment tho I was thinking I should probably start to somewhat baby proof the house.

Well hopefully this week gets back to normal. We haven't gone to her swim lessons this last week because of being sick but I'm planning on going back on Tuesday. They are actually pretty fun even tho they go by so quickly and she really enjoys them. Cory will be able to attend this next week so hopefully I get some good pictures of her. I have completed her Halloween costume and can't wait to see her in it. The holidays are going to be soooo much more fun now I can't wait!

Cory and I spent this afternoon working in the back yard. We decided to dig up all the crab grass that was back there and replant. Hopefully it works. I have crab grass. So if anyone out there has any really great tips on how to keep it out let us know because so far with everything we have been hearing it's not easy.

Pics from the last year

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.