She's A Growing...

The naked photo is one of my favorites ever! Alexa & Chloe napping in our bed one morning.














The flowers that Dan got me for our date night. Daddy & Alexa on our date.














Alexa & Mommy on our date. The 3 of us at Brio.










Alexa with our friends, Kelly and Charlie.










Trying rice cereal for the first time!











She did a pretty decent job.











What a good girl - wiping her own mouth, lol :)










Cuddling with Papa and telling him stories.














Mom had the best [toilet paper] diaper at Bry's baby shower!














Bry reading my message in the book. Watch out for Flying Alexa (she loves when Noni does this to her).


Bry & I are 5 months apart in age, and our daughters will be 5 months apart too! Regan Isabella will be here sometime this month!







She fell asleep in my arms - it was too precious!








Sitting in her booster chair.

















Hanging out at the library.


Alexa in her new winter hat.











Obviously, a lot has gone on since my last posting! But before I get started, I want to thank you all for being supportive/understanding as to why I have "protected" our blog. I know it may be a bit of a hassle to sign in, but it protects our family and that's important.
So in the past week we have had two library visits, Ash Wednesday (and the start of Lent), date night, lunch with my friend Becky, a trip to Perry (which included trying cereal for the first time and a baby shower), and a doctor's visit. That's the short version, ready for the details now? Ok... Dan had called me a few weeks ago and invited me and Alexa out on a date. He picked us up (at the front door with a bouquet of flowers) last Thursday evening and took us to dinner at Brio. It was a really nice meal, and it was nice to get dressed up! Maybe one of these days we'll get to have date night minus the kiddo any volunteer babysitters? ;) We left for Perry on Friday and were able to hangout with our friends Kelly and Charlie. On Saturday, Alexa had her first taste of rice cereal. She did a pretty good job, but I think it'll probably be a few more weeks until she is really ready to have cereal twice a day (which is what the pediatrican instructed me). It was really cute to watch her little tongue trying to figure out what to do with it :) Then, on Sunday us girls went to Bryanen's baby shower. Bry is due at the end of the month with a little girl, Regan Isabella. I have known her since I was a little girl - our mom's graduated together - and cannot wait for Alexa and Regan to be BFFs! Anyways, the shower was a lot of fun, especially watching my mom's friends use toilet paper to make a mock diaper on her - hilarious. All in all, our trip to Perry [as usual] was great and too short! Looking forward to going back next weekend for my cousin Erin's baby shower :)
Yesterday, I took Alexa to her 4 month check-up with Dr. Jacob. Immediately upon entering the room and seeing Alexa holding and chewing on her beads (that Noni bought her), Dr. Jacob told me she was really impressed with her fine motor skills (i.e. finger dexterity). She was also pleased with her gross motor development (i.e. how she "stands" and does tummy time). Alexa weighed in at 12 lbs 4 oz and is 23 3/4" tall. Both of these measurements are in the 20th-30th percentile, but Dr. Jacob is not concerned. She thinks that Alexa is doing great! She also said Alexa's eyes are going to be brown or hazel - they've started to darken so she says there is pretty much no chance of them going back to blue. Let's cross our fingers that she gets the gorgeous deep brown eyes that run in my family :) There were more shots (*tear*) yesterday, but she didn't cry as bad as she did at her 2 month appointment. I had read in a magazine recently that feeding them before the shots can ease the pain, so I fed Alexa while we waited for the nurse to get the shots ready, I'm thinking that it helped. Yesterday and today Alexa has been running a slight fever - I think in response to these shots - but she is still a happy baby, just a little more cuddly :)
The other major thing going on right now is Lent... so I did a lot of thinking about what to do for this special season in the liturgical year. I have always felt that one should give something up and do something too. I have decided to give up the 'f' word - no small feat for me - and have commited to attending Mass every week. Thus far, I am doing ok (only saying the 'f' word 3-4 times a day, but catching myself). I'm really hoping that in the next week I have completely eliminated the word from my vocabulary. I'm enjoying attending Mass, and we (Dan and I) have been reading daily devotions from this Little Black Book put out by the Catholic church. Lent is a time to grow closer to God, and I'm defintely feeling that happening. It's a great feeling!
Alright, well we're watching American Idol - and making fun of the awful performances - and enjoying our nightly post-Alexa-bedtime glass of wine. Ciao.