Rolling both ways!

Well the day has finally come for Miss Tula that she can now roll from her back to her tummy. This is a huge accomplishment for her, and a major relief for me. Anytime she ended up on her back would usually result in a screaming fit where I would have to flip her over immediatly. So it's really only been the last two days I have noticed she would lay there and play for extended periods of time on the fllor. Sometimes she would end up on her back and when I looked back a few minutes later she would be back on her belly. She was so proud of herself, when John and I were sitting with her she was doing her "roll thing" and making sure to look over her shoulder to see if we were watching. Also, now that she can roll both ways she is a little more mobile. I don't think we are even close to crawling, but she will roll places and has also started this "scooting" thing. She will get on her back and push off with her heels. It's certainly not the quickest way to get from point A to point B, but it works for her. Yesterday I heard her whining in her bedroom and went to check on her, I had left her on her back on her play mat in there and she had scooted up to the wall and was upset that she couldn't go any further. The wall was stopping her and I think it was hurting her head, she kept trying to press against it and was bonking herself. Did I just ues the word "bonk" like it was an actual verb? Is is even? You know you are a Mom when....lol.

Anyways, things are about to get busy for us here. My Mom and Dad flew in tonight and went straight to their place, we will see them tomorrow morning. And John's family all flies in Friday night. My sisters both get here this weekend as well. We are so excited to share Tula's First Christmas with everyone! And of course being that it is our first year in our new home will make it twice as fun. I am excited to play hostess for the first time! More than anything, I am so looking forward to Tula being surrounded by lots of family, the one thing we miss the most being out here in AZ. It will be a wonderful Christmas this year, and I cannot wait. Although I will say, when we were out for our after dinner walk tonight (inflip flops and sweatshirts) John and I were talking about how it doesn't even feel like December, much less Christmas. Seeing all the homes with their Christmas lights and no snow is so strange. The house has been decorated for weeks now but it is just so hard to imagine it is less than a week away. Hopefull having everyone here will make it feel more like the season.

Tula will be 6 months old shortly after Christmas so I will post more about her then. I just wanted to give a quick update on the rolling and scooting situation, more for my journaling purposes than anything.

I probably won't take the time to post again before Christmas. But I want to wish everyone (even if I don't know you!) reading this a very, very Merry Christmas. May this holiday season be a time of laughter, love and peace for all of you!

Happy Holidays, from our Family to Yours!

Praise You In This Storm

For Jen and Tiff, Mom and Dad. I love you guys and can't wait to see you all. Christmas has a whole new meaning this year.




"Praise You In This Storm"

I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen",
and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

And I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

Santa and his favorite girl.....

...well at least she better be considering it took 3 (!!!!!) visits to see him before we finally got "the" pic. It all started last Thursday when I went to the mall with Mom's Group and I waited in line to get a picture with Tula and Santa. We waited about 20 min in line and the deal was if you bought a package you could take a few pics with your own camera so I did. I snapped a few quick and after we were done I looked at them and the ones I took with my camera Tula wasn't looking up at all. So, I got BACK in the line and waited another 15 minutes. I get to the front and explain to Santa that I already bought a package but my pictures from my camera didn't turn out so could I take another with just my camera. He says "fine" and I go to snap the pic and voila!....my camera's battery is dead. Perfect. So Santa said I could come back another day and do it, he said I could even cut to the front of the line.

Well John got off work early today so we took Tula to the mall for round 2 of Santa pictures. Although Santa himself had told me I need not wait in the line, how could I budge in front of all of those patiently waiting kids (and mammies!) So, for the third time, Tula and I (and now John) waited in line to see Santa. It was worth it though, I think we got a couple great pics!

Checkin' emails......

So John's Aunt Gayle sent us these really cute email videos of little elves dancing around with Tula's face on them. So it looked like her, dressed up as an elf on the computer screen. She thought this was the funniest thing ever tonight.

Is this normal????

That my child, who will not take a bottle or paci or sippy cup or ANYTHING completely figured out how to use a straw from the moment we put it in her mouth? It's so cute, she will sit there and take her little sip, then swallow, then take another sip......I love it!

Her first outing with Daddy!

Well Sunday was a big day for Miss Tula Belle and her Daddy! They went out, just the two of them together. I left the house to get my nails done and left him with the carseat and a baby in her PJ's. He dressed her up in his favorite onesie (see below) I guess they went and ran a couple errands and hit up Home Depot. I guess she was a complete angel for him and didn't make one peep, she even fell asleep on the way home! This is such a fun age she is at, so much easier to take out of the house without feeling like you need a million "just in case" things. She is growing up so fast though!

Eating is getting better and better every day. Today was just cereal for breakfast and she wasn't too fond of that. But tonight was sweet potato and she went nuts! It was the first time she ate the whole bowl (well, everything I had made her). I even gave her some applesauce for desert and she polished that all off as well! And she was laughing and smiling the whole time. The three of us laughed so much tonight, she was really being a clown.

Here's some pics of Tula on Sunday and the wardrobe (onesie) Daddy dressed her in. So cute.

Finally figured out the Jumparoo!

Tula decided today that she finally "gets" her jumparoo. When we got back from our walk tonight we had an hour before bathtime and she was a little wound up so we thought we would put he in there. She went nuts and loved making us laugh and getting our attention by jumping like mad. She went at it for a good half an hour and wore herself right out. She actually went down last night without a peep.

Hmmmmm.....do I see a new "addition" to the evening routine?

Buh bye swing!

Well yesterday was a big day for our little girl. The first big thing was she actually ate her solid food! We had been practicing for about two weeks. It was kind of off and on, when i felt like she was in a good mood and hungry but not too hungry. But everything kept coming right back down. She couldn't figure out how to swallow anything. Any reading I had done or other moms i had talked to said that this was completely normal. I had read somewhere that it took approx. 20 tries with solid food before your baby would be able to swallow and that was almost exactly our case. But finally, yesterday morning, she figured it out and decided her mama's applesauce was going down the hatch. She actually seemed to enjoy it. She doesn't seem to get the concept yet that she has to open her mouth for the food so I basically have to wait for her to open up but once it's in there, she's good. She will move it around her mouth a little and gags a lot because of the texture but wanted more. She Had applesauce for breakfast and some mashed up sweet potato for dinner and she loved it! It was a happy day for me, I was so nervous that it would be a long process to get her to accept solids and am so glad it's not going to be.
So I will post pics of funny food faces when I have them and as she tried new things. Yesterday she was actually a very clean eater and I have no pictures, but I will post one of her in her highchair looking like SUCH a big girl.

Oh yeah, the other big thing about yesterday was we finally put the swing away. I probably could have done that over a month ago but kept thinking that it may come in handy and reminiscing about how much she *loved* her swing. But....I put her in it the other day and she was flat out too big for it. She was reaching for the mobile things and cranking on them and pulling at the screen behind her and trying to squirm out of it. Similar to the bouncy chair video below. She was not enjoying herself. At all. So we packed that up and put it away and I felt like she was so big outgrowing toys already. Clothes I can handle. The swing? That's a whole other story...

Other than that, yesterday was uneventful, but a great day for us. The three of us did a little furniture shopping and hung out at home which was nice considering it sounds like we won't get to do that again for awhile. John found out this week that his work is taking him out of town for the next 3 or 4 weeks. He is going to some mine in northern AZ to build some big machine and while he is ecstatic about this new opportunity, I am really bummed out and going to miss him. There is actually a chance that he won't even get to come home for Christmas. I am praying that that won't be the case. As sad as I am for me and Tula cause we are going to miss him so much, I am excited for John. I have never seen him so happy and excited about his job since I met him. I am really happy for him.

A few pics from yesterday and Tula with her very own Christmas tree. Our house is now fully decorated and it's beginning to feel a lot more like Christmas is on it's way. Can't wait for everyone to get here!

Time to put the bouncy chair away!