Picture Picture

Willa's baby book has a little spot where you are supposed to put baby photos of the parents so you can decide whom the baby looks most like.  Ryan and I decided to go a step further and pose Willa in the same poses of our baby pictures.

It would have been more effective if we had done it a few weeks/months ago when she was closer to the same age and if she was wearing the same clothing.

Behold:
                                     
                                              

As you can see, we didn't really have a dark blue, collared, boy romper.  I put on a light blue flowered romper and put some water on her right shoulder to recreate the drool, but the lighter fabric doesn't lend itself to large drool marks.  I need to retake these with socks, too.

Behold:

I actually took this photo a few weeks ago, but wanted another attempt.

 I put enough smiley photos in, here are some sad ones.  She's so cute when she cries, I usually laugh.

Clearly, I need some instruction in the infant-mohawk 'do.  As you can see, my mom was quite the expert.  Willa's hair just seems to flop over.  Ryan also might be disappointed because Willa's hair is still slightly wet-looking from the mousse.  He accuses me of doing this on purpose so that my hair in my baby pictures looks more luxuriant.  I tell him that I'm also jealous of Willa's soft skin and the attention that everyone gives her.

I think she mainly looks like me, but with Ryan sprinkled in.  Ryan sometimes takes umbrage when I say who she looks like.  "She looks like WILLA!"  It's very important that she have her own identity, or maybe he's just tired of hearing me say the same things over and over and over.

Do you like the little puppy that she is posing with?  Ryan got me this puppy for Valentine's Day.  It has to do with a joke from an episode of Parks & Recreation which I won't attempt to explain here.  It was a nice gesture, I suppose, since we weren't really planning on doing anything for Valentine's Day, but I suspect that Ryan was more thrilled with the idea of giving me a "little puppy" (cue inside joke) than the greatness of the gift.  I told him that I look forward to the day when my Valentine's gift doesn't come out of the clearance dregs of a CVS pharmacy.

The little puppy has provided us lots of entertainment, usually we put him around the apartment doing various things.  Here is a photo of him tucked into bed.  Sometimes he is sitting up reading the Book of Mormon, sometimes hiding in Ryan's backpack, sometimes at night in the dark Ryan will reach over and  have the puppy start stroking my head and it is freaky.

Kohls Coupons.

Cathryn has wanted me to contribute to our blog, though I am not sure why. I think she believes I will add some legitimacy to it. Frankly, I enjoy reading the blog "as is." I will often open it up while I am at work. It doesn't hurt that it always has so many pictures of Willa for me to enjoy.

The fact is, I did once post a message on this blog (3/16/2011), but erased it within 12 hours. Something didn't feel right--it lacked a certain je ne sais quoi. Since then, I've been content to let Cathryn represent our family to the blogging public (our friends and family). However, since her last post mentioned her hope that I would write something about our experience yesterday at Kohls, I decided I would give it a shot.

A few weeks ago Cathryn collected $60 worth of Kohl's coupons out of the trash cans at our apartment complex. Chances are, you've seen this type of coupon before. The coupon gets you $10 off your entire purchase. Naturally, you want to get as close to $10 as possible so you don't have to pay anything. The coupon had a life of a couple weeks and yesterday was its last day.

Cathryn used one of the coupons earlier in the week so we had five left yesterday when I volunteered to go to the store to pick up a few sundries. It took me a while to find some items worth buying (only three) and a few more minutes to make sure that each purchase would be as close to 10 bones as possible.

Before the cashier checked me out I said, "Ok this is what I want to do. I want to spend as little money here as possible. I am going to segregate these items into three purchases so they are as close to 10 doll hairs as possible. Then I am going to use one of these coupons for each purchase." This is not an original idea. I'm sure people try to do this all the time. This was confirmed to me when the cashier immediately said I couldn't make my desired transactions. I responded with the wholly unoriginal "Ok, so I am going to use one coupon, leave, come back and use the next." The poor cashier said I couldn't do that either and said she could get the manager if I wanted to ask her my questions. I didn't and made 1/3 of my desired purchases.

When I walked out, I could hear the phrase my mother is famous for: "People just do what they do." Thus, I decided that I should just do what I do--I dropped off my purchase in the car and returned for my second purchase.

For my second purchase, I chose a different cashier to bargain with. While waiting in line, I noticed the manager eyeballing me which she had been doing since I came back into the store. When the cashier asked me if I had any coupons, I gave him the 10-spot and the hovering manager immediately stopped the transaction. They consulted for a few seconds and she said: "Sir, this is the last one today, ok?" She quickly explained my conduct to the cashier like it was some kind of dirty malefaction.

When I got home, Cathryn and I went to a different Kohls closer to us to use the remaining three coupons. We split up so that no one would give us any trouble (I also changed my clothes, wore a hat, and insisted that we both used cash for our transactions--for obvious reasons). But here is the real kicker: the lady who checked Cathryn out allowed her to use two coupons together which obviated her need to buy a small superfluous item. And the lady who checked me out? She was upset that I gave her a $20 bill to buy $1.18 worth of items. Her words were: "Are you serious? Ohhh, big spender."

I don't think I learned a lesson from this experience. But for people who think that our actions were disingenuous, let me explain something to you: Obviously Kohls does not want one person to use more than one coupon. The coupon makes this clear. But deciding to use multiple coupons is not a moral dilemma--it is purely a question of bargaining. Kohls, as offeror, does not have to honor the terms of the coupon. The coupon merely states Kohls' opening offer. Besides, Kohls got more money from us than it would have otherwise.

Here is an old picture. Not sure how old, but it does not matter--Willa's beauty is timeless.

Happy Easter!

We're so glad that cousin Claire passed down her old Easter dress from last year!  

Who doesn't love a fat, diapered, ruffle-bum?!

Easter Sunday is always nice, church was nice and I enjoyed having some extra musical numbers during the sacrament meeting.  I taught the lesson to the Young Women while Ryan had Willa and tried to keep her from making to much noise in Elders Quorum.  There wasn't a lot of class participation, so Ryan tried asking some philosophical/incendiary questions to get the ball rolling, but unfortunately these attempts mainly fell flat, and when he came home he sent off an apology email to the teacher.  Young Womens, on the other hand, was very interesting and moving since I was the teacher.  All in all, it is nice to think about the Savior on Easter Sunday, remember the Atonement, and have our testimonies strengthened.

Some more photos, mainly so you can see how cute her clothes are now that she is fitting into more of Claire's old things.

Willa LOVES to watch a youtube clip of Elmo singing the ABCs with India.  I think it's a combination of the bright colors and the music.  See slightly punch-drunk expression of satisfaction on her face.

My harp teacher sent me this cute little dress and I love it!  It's perfect for the weather down here and has just a little bit of flair; it also feels like something that I might have her wear for a trip to Whole Foods - I'm not sure why I feel that way, but it feels like that kind of outfit to me.

FINALLY, enjoying the bouncer.  She still not got too much of a vertical bounce, but she likes moving around in it.  Blurry expression of glee as she twirls.

I'm trying to get Ryan to post something and be more of an active participant in the blog.  I'm hoping he will get on and tell you about a funny story at Kohls that happened yesterday when he double-used a coupon.  The more you know, the more you Kohls.

R.I.P. Kiddopotamus Swaddleme

I've mentioned these swaddle wraps a couple of times and have left no doubt in anyone's mind that I LOVE these things!  Willa slept so well and went down so easily that I was wondering if I should start looking into patterns to make adult-sized ones for when she grew up.  Well!  Doesn't parenting just throw us some curveballs sometimes!  A few days ago Willa woke up crying, which never happens.  She has finally found her physical strength and learned to flipped over even when she's swaddled like a mummy.  The flipping isn't so bad, but her head gets torqued in a position which eventually makes her neck hurt and wakes her up (crying).

Ryan and I have therefore summed up the courage to put the swaddle away, albeit with a few tears.  Unfortunately, it's like sleep training all over again!  When I put that swaddle on Willa, she knew it was time for bed and I could usually lay her down and she would go to sleep without complaint.  Now, she gets a little confused.  Suddenly she's laying somewhere but she is free to move around, woohoo!  She's also free to explore with her hands and pull her pacifier out, woohoo!

Willa likes to be on the floor on her own.  She likes us to play with her, but a lot of the time I can leave her on the floor with a few toys for 30 minutes to an hour and she will entertain herself.  Therefore, when I lay her down alone in her bed, I think she probably thinks it is just playtime because she just talks and moves around.  I'm trying to start some other routines so she knows it is sleepytime.  I'll rock her for a few minutes, do some quiet play, put her in a sleep sack, give her her softie blankie, and stick the pacifier in.  I think she's getting the idea, but those busy hands keep playing with the pacifier!

Sometimes, she will lay for a while then her hands slowly reach up for the pacifier and pull it out.  It will fall to the side so she'll arch her back and turn her head into the sheets to try and get it back into her mouth.  She'll finally grab it with her hands again but keeps putting it in upside down or backwards.  I can hear her sighing in there and getting so frustrated!  If I go in to reinsert pacifier, she starts kicking and smiling and thinks that she's going to get out of bed.  We've had to start letting her cry it out, unfortunately.  She knows how to calm herself; I know she does, because she rarely cries in the car anymore.  If she's unhappy in the car, she will make unhappy gurgles and then fall asleep or be quiet.  She'll make the same gurgles in her bed she's on her way to putting herself to sleep.  When I've tried to go in amid the gurgles to reinsert the paci, it throws her self-soothing and then she gets really mad.  "Ooh, mommy's here!  Get me out, let's play!!  Don't leave!! Wahhhhhh!!!!" and that's when the dangerous, never-gonna-self-soothe cries start happening.

I just realized that this post is pretty boring, so I think I'll just stop.  Just know, this week has been busy and harder because we're swaddleless.  I use it occasionally for naps, but no more swaddle at nighttime.  Just note in the photo above, I couldn't do up all the snaps on her little romper because her legs are too chubby.  I love it!

On a lighter note, did everyone hear/see me on the TODAY show?!!!  It was so exciting!  They did a sound check with me over the phone, then I could hear everything happening on the show through my phone.  I was a little nervous that when it was my turn to talk that instead of asking my question I would blurt something out like, "I love you guys!" or "You guys are my best friends!" or "We're poor, send money!" Luckily/Unluckily I was able to keep my dignity.  Still, you have to wonder how fast they would cut me off if I had starting shouting crazy things (though, I wouldn't consider any of the things I listed as crazy).

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/42662937

Here is the link in case anyone missed it!  I told Ryan that I think I might be addicted to calling in for advice now.  I've suddenly wanted to think up financial and real estate questions so that I can call in for the Money 911 segment and the Barbara Corcoran real estate segment.  I pondered how funny/not funny it would be if I called in to all of segments on the show - would anyone notice?  Probably not, though people do love the TODAY show.

Sudsy

Looking now, I wish I would have made her hair a little more sudsy; however, at the time it was just funny in itself. I've just recently started sitting her up (with me holding her) so that I can get the back of her head shampooed well. I only realized today that that meant we could start doing the classic soapy head shots.

It's Really Happening!!!

My friend Johanna at the TODAY show didn't forget me!!! Tune your television dials for this Tuesday, April 19th at 9:00 a.m. so you can hear me call in and ask Joy my question. Ooo, I'm all in a tizzy. One of the producers is going to call on Monday with instructions and details. I'm sure that this question is going to change our lives and that the good times will start rolling in. Lookout world, it's me! I've been thinking of ways to prepare, I will probably need to practicing asking my question to Ryan so that I know EXACTLY what to say. I also need to start doing some vocal exercises. Mi mi mi mi mi miiiiiiii.

Six Months Old and Cute as Can Be!

Today is Willa's six month birthday!  She is getting to be such a big girl, I can't believe it.  At her doctor's appointment two months ago, he mentioned about starting her on solid foods.  She just seemed so small, I felt like she would never be ready for solids!  Now, looking at her I think it's probably time to try them.  She is just acting and looking so much older!

I'm not in any hurry to try solid foods, there are a lot of cons in my opinion: takes more time, costs more money, causes stinkier diapers.  If she was having trouble sleeping through the night or taking good naps, then I might be convinced, but for now the only big plus would be that I could leave her at a babysitter's with a jar of baby food rather than a bottle (which she may or may not take, depending on her mood).  She still only eats about five times a day, so I think the milk is filling her up just fine.

Willa finally rolled over this month.  She has done it a couple of times, but must have figured out that the end result was not fun because she has stopped doing it.  She does a halfway roll, which allows her to grab at whatever she wanted, but she rarely goes the distance anymore.  She is almost sitting up by herself, but not quite.  I'm trying to give her some practice, but am not sure how to practice this without her falling over.  I will put her in the sitting up position and lightly balance her.  She loves to be pulled by her arms from laying to standing and she stands really well with some balancing help.

This past Tuesday Willa also learned how to put her pacifier back in her mouth all by herself!  Such a big girl!  She doesn't get much time to practice this since we usually only give her the paci once she is swaddled and ready for bed, but occasionally we'll give it to her when she is up and has her hands free to play with it.  This gets me one step closer to stopping the swaddle since I don't have to worry about her tricksy hands getting the pacifier out and not being able to put it back in.  I still am leaning on the swaddle, though, because I think she does sleep more soundly with it.  I can get her to sleep without it, but never for as long.

I also forgot to mention that Willa has also started getting her hair conditioned this month!  It was getting so knotted, Ryan and I have been flummoxed in how to deal with it so we decided to start conditioner.

Her eyes are definitely going to be brown, but they still haven't settled in yet.  Some days you can catch a glimpse of them looking brown, but more often there is still a ring of the newborn blue around the edges and you can't really tell the color.

She likes scratching on different textures with her hands.  She hasn't quite figured it out in books, but she likes to put her arm on the couch, or bed, or anywhere and start scratching and listening to the noise.  She also has started to like looking at her hand while she eats.  She slowly turns it over, moves her fingers, and generally seems to be learning that that is her hand and that she has control of it.

She still sleeps 10-11 1/2 hours each night, which is great!  We take her with us on Tuesday nights when I have Young Women's and Ryan has Cub Scouts.  She is definitely getting older because she doesn't really cry anymore.  She'll just lay on the floor with her toys and play quietly while we are there.  Or, sometimes we will put her in the Baby Bjorn where she can chew on our fingers (she prefers Ryan's particularly).

She laughs and smiles more frequently now and loves to look at Ryan or whomever is talking.  As soon as she makes eye contact she gets a big smile on her face and then looks away abashedly, it's very cute.  This afternoon she fell asleep in her carseat on the way home.  I took her out of the carseat to carry her inside (she'd only been asleep about 2 minutes and I didn't want to haul the whole thing up there).  While I was carrying her she put her head down on my shoulder and went back to sleep.  It was so sweet and tender!  She seemed like a big girl sleeping on my shoulder like that as I carried her.

To celebrate today, I am going to make some brownies.  Then tonight, we are going to watch the Thursday night comedy line-up.  Back at USC we had Ryan's law school friends Peter and Scott over for dinner and the Thursday night NBC line-up.  It was always something fun to look forward to, but now that we all have moved away it's just Ryan and me and the night is always kind of anti-climactic.  Between the four of us, we would mostly get all of the wittier jokes, now at least half of them probably go over our heads.

I think that's all the Willa news I can think of.  Along with her host of nicknames previously mentioned, we also call her Raggiest T. Ragamuffin (Raggiest for short).  We probably won't get in for her six month check-up for another week or two.  She is so big, I wonder what her stats are.  There is a little baby at church who is six weeks older but Willa is bigger!

Sun Baby

My blog, my rules - therefore, several similar photos of Willa. We went to the pool again today; the water was still cool, but felt really nice to me. We didn't stay very long because I didn't put sunscreen on her and it was pretty bright outside. I don't want to damage her beautiful skin by encouraging the growth of free radicals from sun damage. We will have to wait yet a little bit longer to ascertain whether she has water feel or not.

Jumper

When my mom came to visit in February she brought this jumper for Willa. Check out the detail on the material. It's very chic; my mom admitted that she originally bought it for my little brother Cameron to use. Now, I'm not good with sibling ages, but I can safely say that Cameron is somewhere in his 20s and he's not the youngest in my family. Soooo, add together Cameron, Celeste, and probably every niece and nephew that I have and you get a well-used jumper! (I think it's fair to assume that most/all of my nieces and nephews have used this jumper since my mom took the pains to bring the jumper from my nephew Brody in Colorado all the way to Willa in Texas. Would it be cheaper to buy a 20+ year old jumper off of Craigslist rather than pay the baggage fee for Delta? I really can't say.)

Willa enjoys being in the jumper, but hasn't really figured out what it's there for. I'm starting to worry that she's somewhat addled when it comes to physical activity. I hope that she'll get the message soon. She likes to use her legs to spin around, she likes when I make the jumper bounce, and she REALLY likes to suck on the material.

Here is a photo of her sucking on the material. It's not inherently funny, since she sucks and drools on everything, but her reaction is hilarious. She leans her head down and as soon as she gets a taste, she immediately lifts her head up with a really disgusted look on her face. Maybe 20 years and 15 kids worth of drool doesn't taste very good, who am I to judge?

The photos are a little old and somewhat blurry, it's a jumper so she's moving - harder, therefore, to get a non-fuzzy photo.

Bluebells

Bluebell is the Texas state flower; it is also the name of some delicious Texas-based ice cream!

The bluebell flowers are in bloom right now so we went out yesterday to take some pictures.  Anything for a cute baby picture, right?  Also, anything to get out of the house sometimes.  Also, anything that serves as an excuse to stop by Sonic on the drive home and get a slushie.  So many reasons!!!

All packed up and ready to go!  We can fit three carseats all in a row in the Exploder.  Willa, DJ, Rene

 

Me and the Willster, tasting danger with her tongue, perhaps?

DJ and Renee - NOT posing nicely, but still looking cute

Willa was a good sport and enjoyed wiggling her little toes in the flowers.  I gave her a few flowers, thinking that I could get a cute picture of her holding them, but that only taught her that she could grab at these things and then eat them.  What fun!  This last photo of her is my favorite, I love that little smile and the look on her face.  These pigtails are what caused the crazy bedhead this morning, by the way.

Bedhead

Willa had crazy hair this morning.  I was sad when it was time to give her a bath and brush it down.

Feeding the Ducks

Carol invited us to go feed the ducks at a nearby pond. Once we were there, I remembered that feeding ducks sometimes disgusts me because of how aggressive they are.

A photo of the whole gang, except me. Carol is itty-bitty and so are her kids. Here is Renee, 15 months, still in a back-facing carseat in the snap 'n' go because she doesn't weigh enough to be turned around. Her baldy head also keeps people thinking that she is closer to 9 months and they are all surprised that she can walk when she's so little. D.J. is three and he sits on the carseat between Renee's legs. Carol really knows how to pack lightly.

These ducks below are pretty disgusting looking, they have some sort of red stuff on their beaks that makes them look like a Turkey/Duck hybrid. The original Turducken?

The kids again, Carol's husband is Filipino thus the undeniable, half-Asian cuteness. It was bright outside, poor Willa. I think the sunshade worked most of the time, but I want to find her some cute little sunglasses.

Unrelated photo of Willa in the bumbo, I love this little zoot suit hand-me-down from cousin Claire!