First Christmas and Blessings

What a busy week we have had! Gamma got here on Monday, Gampa got here on Wednesday, and Nana and Papa Jay got here last night. Lola's first Christmas Eve was very eventful! We found a new breakfast place so we all went and had a Christmas Eve Breakfast. Then Gampa and I went Christmas shopping while Rodney and Gamma held the fort down at home. Gampa got Lola the cutest little outfit that says "Team Grandpa." She will enjoy wearing that!
After Nana and Papa Jay got here, we headed to church. Lola was so sweet during church. She was fascinated by the lights, especially when all the lights were turned off and the candle light started. It was so lovely and it was wonderful to introduce our baby girl to this family tradition.
After church we came home and had some dinner. Now in our family, we have a tradition of opening our stockings on Christmas Eve.  This started years ago when my grandmother would do all of our stockings. We were allowed to open one stocking stuffer (or "stuffin' stocker" as my family calls it) on Christmas Eve. Well, my grandmother and mother were like little kids and pretty soon, that ONE present ended up being the whole stocking! And, thus, a tradition was started! (It's a good thing that the tradition of opening other people's gifts to see what they were, then wrapping them back up,  didn't stick! I think when Lola gets a little older, Gamma might be a bad influence!)

Of course we took lots of pictures of our favorite present under the tree.  She even unwrapped one of Gamma's presents. Course she enjoyed the paper much more than anything!  Which I hear will be the case for the next few years. I usually make breakfast on Christmas morning (an easy egg dish) and this year, I decided I'd make some pumpkin pancakes. I had a pumpkin bread mix that I converted to pancake mix. I made the first two and then the pancake master (aka, my dad) came in and kicked me out. I tried to put cranberies in the pancakes, but Mr. Pancake told me I was ruining them, so I got out voted and he took over! I discovered that pancakes and bacon are not prepared as quickly as eggs. When we were finished, Lola and Papa Jay had gone down for a nap! Nana gave us a beautiful "Baby's first Christmas" ornament. We love it! She also brought us a bunch of ornaments that she made when Rodney was growing up. I loved adding those to our tree!  After all our presents were opened, Lola played in the paper.  She was almost buried in it! Gamma got her an exer-saucer, which she seems to like. It will grow with her, and I think she will like being able to turn herself around--that is when her feet finally reach the ground in it!

We did our traditional ham dinner this year and Lola was jealous that she didn't get to have any of it! And of course, we ate way too much! I had forgotten to get rolls, so mom headed out to get some (and the milk I forgot to get) but nothing was open (which was really nice, I think!) so she ended up getting us a loaf of white bread for our dinner. So we had the whole spread...ham, dressing... full setting of china and silver and real napkins with my favorite glittery dragon fly napkin rings...and a loaf of white bread!

We sure missed having Hannah and Jake here (and Kristi and Bob!) This is the first year we've been in this house that they haven't been here with us on Christmas. They have a new baby too, a few months younger than Lola.  I'm so looking foward to Lola having a cousin close in age as it seems all of the people we know actually have lapped us in the children department, so all their children are much older than Lola. So, yay for baby Jaycee...Cousin Lola is looking forward to getting to know you and hopefully they can be together next Christmas!

Five Months and Sweet Potatoes!

Lola Raye Sherrard is now five months old! Crazy how time flies and how we can practically see her growing right before our eyes. We think that Lola is going to be a lefty. She has started grabbing things, and always with her left hand. For her shower, we got this great little booster seat with toys attached to the tray. She is showing quite an interest in spinning the dragonflys and bouncing the birdy. And...all with her left hand. We are still sleeping in the bouncy seat, and still sleeping swaddled, but through the night again, which we love. I guess the swaddle and bouncy seat are ok, after all, we don't know any adults still sleeping swaddled in a bouncy! Knowing that the "real" food time is coming within the next month, I started making and freezing baby food this week. I got some green beans and carrots in the freezer, and tonight I started with the sweet potatoes.  To me, even, they smelled really good when they were cooking. We've been practicing with the spoon. On bath day, I've been mixing up a little rice cereal and "feeding" her. (A couple of months ago I tried this and she flipped out!) Then, when we are covered in rice cereal, I pick her up out of the Bumbo and plop her in the tub. (We bathe on the kitchen counter.) We've done that a couple of times, I can't imaginen it on a daily basis, it's such a mess! This is a far cry from the flipping out a couple of months ago!Tonight, with the smell of sweet potatoes in the air, I decided to try to something a little different. So, I pulled out the Bumbo and bib, and put some of the sweet potatoes in a bowl.  She made the cutest faces and we ended up with sweet potato all over the place, but I THINK some of it went down--I guess we'll see what color things are when they start coming out the other end to be sure! I get such a kick out of this kid! I'm amazed at what is intuitive with babies, and I'm just so impressed...how did she know to open her mouth to let me put the spoon in?

This I think she even is starting to recognize her name! Of course we are not making this easy for her with all the nick names.  But today, she looked at me when I called her name...albiet it took twice, but still, she looked at me after I said, "Lola." Changing, changing, changing!

We are so excited that this is her first Christmas. Rodney has taken her to the mall a couple of times this week, and she is always a show stopper when we take her out. The funny thing is, I don't remember ever asking complete strangers about their babies! I'm not sure I ask people even now that I have one. I wonder if this makes me a bad person, but I can honestly say I never stopped anyone in a store to say something about their child! Anyway,  I realize that this Christmas will be more meaningful to us than to her, and even though we got her in July, she is the BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!

Thanksgiving and Pictures!

Last week, we changed up our tradition of going to Lubbock for Thanksgiving, and headed to Las Cruces. This is where I grew up and it's the first Thanksgiving I have been there in 21 years, first holiday in 20! It still feels like home!
We got to meet our new niece, Jaycee, who is the cutest little red head ever! And she is so tiny compared to Lola!  We went to our sister-in-law's sister's house (confused?) She lives not far from my parents, so it was still easy to have all the people we love together!
We took Lola and Jaycee to Sears to have a photo shoot of the two new cousins. It went OK, getting babies to do what you want them to is not so easy. But, surprisingly, we got some pretty good shots! I posted the pictures on the Share Site.
After Thanksgiving night, though, we had a bit of a scare. My dad went home early and called us to let us know that Bogey, our dog, was no longer in the yard. Historically, Bogey has had a difficult time of staying confined. We have on our tags that he's a fence jumper and to call us, however, that morning, I took his collar off.  So Dad and I set off looking in the car, Rodney went off on foot. Rodney's dad and brother headed out too and we scoured the neighborhood. FINALLY, my father in law found someone who was wondering the neighborhood looking for Bogey's family! He said Bogey was very happy to see him. And we were VERY relieved!

We also had Lola's picture taken with Santa, which was ok, but there was just no getting her to smile. But that's ok. She didn't cry!
A fun highlight of the weekend was getting to see my high school football team play in the state semi-finals--and win. It wasn't really a game, but it was good to see some old friends and we didn't lose! That was the first game I had been to also in 21 years!
Now we are getting ready for our work Christmas party Saturday evening. I was trying to make these really yummy cheese puffs covered in a toffee-like coating. But I don't have any idea what I did wrong, but both batches I made burned after half the time in the oven.  I'm disappointed! Oh well, there will be enough other good stuff!
I'm also pleased that I got my Chrstimas cards all done and out! It was fun making them this year, since I have such a beautiful little subject to showcase! We had OUR Christmas in July this year, for sure!

Forever Family and Love

What a busy weekend our little Lola has had! Nana, Papa Jay, Gamma, and Gampa came to visit on Friday so that they could be here for Lola's (and our) big day! How special it was for us to finalize our adoption of Lola. We got up Saturday morning and Gamma had to get her hair done. So she and I headed out to do that. When we were finished, we headed down to the juvenile court four our appointment. The court house was decorated for a celebration! We were taken to the court we'd be in and waited outside for our turn. When we went in, our lawyer asked us a bunch of (easy) questions, and then the judge talked to us for a bit. She told us that this should be a day that we celebrate every year. That this day is as important as her birthday. That we need to remember every moment so that when Lola gets old enough we can tell her about it. What she was wearing...which was also very special! Mom gave me a dress after Lola came home with us that my aunt Judy made for me when I was a baby. It's a beautiful dress with hand stitched smocking around the neck and arms, and it fit Lola perfectly! My aunt Judy died when I was 6, so it was extra special to have Lola be able to wear that dress!

What I remember most about what we said to the judge is what I believe in my heart to be true...Lola is the baby that God intended for us. After all the years of trying to have a baby, she was born in my heart! That judge really made that day special for us, and told Lola, "God bless you, little baby."  I thought that was extra special!
We had our first picture taken as a family, and they gave us a picture frame to put it in when we get it. We had cake, and then headed out to lunch.
Gamma and Gampa left Sunday morning and we will be seeing them again on Wednesday as we head home for Thanksgiving. This will be the first time I've been to Las Cruces for a holiday in 20 years!  Nana, Papa Jay, Aunt Kristi, Uncle Bob, Cousins Hannah and Jake will be there. And we will be able to meet Cousin Jaycee for the first time!  Lola is really looking forward to meeting her new cousin!

I mentioned in my last post that I was looking forward to seeing New Moon. Those of you who know me well, know that I am a Twilight freak (or a Twi Hard fan!) and was very excited to see this movie. It's my favorite book of the series and I was much more impressed with this movie than the first one. And was also excited to hear that the next movie will come out in June. That means I don't have to wait another year to see the next movie, I only have to wait 7 months!  And this last movie really is testing my commitment to Team Edward! Team Jacob is really tempting me! My age was definatley revealed during the previews...There was a movie previewed with Robert Pattenson, and when he first came on the screen, the teenie boppers in the theater woo-hood and squeeled. Then they showed the actor playing his father...Pierce Brosnan. This is where I woo-hood and squeeled! 
I have not introduced Lola to the world of Twilight, she may be a little young at this point, but I'm looking forward to sharing the wonderful world of reading with her as she gets older.

Here is our "Forever Family"

Changes and Twilight

This week has come with some change to our lives! We had an employee take another job starting this week, so Rodney and I both went back to work to cover her shift. So last weeek, we were on the hunt for a day care, anticipating that we would need someplace for Lola eventually. The place we like doesn't take children until 8 months old. OK by us, we are a little leary with all the flu going around anyway, so that's actually fine by us. However, we still had to find a place to keep Lola. Monday we both work, so this is the day we decided to try a sitter. Our neighbor has kindly agreed to watch Lola while we are working, the overlap is just a few hours, but still, a little nerve racking leaving our new baby girl with someone else. But Lola did fine, and we were able to get our shifts covered!
Saturday is the big day! We are very excited that both of our parens are going to come to Phoenix for our court date. We aren't really sure what to expect. We have our time, but the festivities start at 10 that morning. We had to sign a media waiver, so I'm sure that means there will be TV, but not sure how many people to expect. Anyway, when it's all over, Lola will OFFICIALLY be ours!  And we are so pleased to be a part of something so big as National Adoption Day! We will certainly celebrate this day for years to come.
A milestone for us has been Lola learning how to roll over from back to front. We find her determination to get there very interesting, as she still HATES being on her stomache. So we saw it coming...she rolled and rolled and tried to get over on her belly...and then, she did it. And then...she screamed. And screamed. So we picked her up and loved on her, but it WAS funny.  She IS determined, but has not yet learned the whole cause/effect relationship.
She has also discovered (or rather we have discovered) that Lola enjoys looking at books and having us read to her. This has been fun. I truely hope that she enjoys reading when she gets older.  I love reading, so I hope that we can teach that love of reading to baby girl, Lola!

Speaking of reading, New Moon comes out this week. Last year, when Twilight came out, Nada (my friend Cheri) and I went to the midnight showing. We decided to make it a tradition and will be hitting the midnight showing again this year for New Moon. Of course, we aren't so dedicated as our teenage counterparts...my administrative assistant will be saving us seats so we can saunter in at 11:45 without having to fight the throngs of Edward crazed teeny boppers! And, unlike them, I'll probably have a nap first! I figure I'll be home just in time to give Lola her middle of the night bottle.

Birthdays and Halloween

Happy Halloween! I totally meant to post an update earlier this week, but somehow, time just gets away from me! Lola and us went to see Gam-ma and Gam-pa last weekend for Gam-pa's 80th birthday.  It was such a nice trip and Lola got to meet some more family...Her Great Aunt Chris, Great Uncle Ed, and Cousin Taire (I know there are some 1st's and removeds in there with that one, but let's just say Cousin Taire to keep it simple!) We have figured out there is nothing like  a new baby to entice family you haven't seen in a while to make it out to see you! It's been a while since we've seen the Diaz's, and it was a delightful visit! Taire didn't get to stay for very long, but so glad that she came too! I just love getting to spend time with family! So does Lola!

We got our letter in the mail with our court time. Since we already had our court DATE, all we were waiting on was the time. We were glad to as there were a few glitches on OUR part in meeting the deadline. Typically, we sign in blue ink. I like blue ink, it's a much friendlier color than black, and it's easier to tell which is original and which is the copy. On our way back from Las Cruces, I was checking my e-mail and had an e-mail from the lawyer telling us we had sent her the copy of the paperwork, rather than the originals. Of course I freaked out as we were in the car and couldn't really check right then, but we were pretty sure that we sent originals. Of course this was AFTER the first set of paperwork got lost in the mail. She had called to ask us where it was, and we had mailed it more than a week earlier, so she had to fax it to us and we had to mail it back in. Talk about STRESSFUL! The other OOPS we did was not reading our homestudy paperwork closely to see that we had until the 27th to get our final post-placement paperwork in in order to file on the 28th. I read that date on the 24th. We made it, but phew! Not sure why I wasn't on top of all that, but glad I caught it before leaving town last weekend. Sometimes my blonde roots show! Anyway, we are scheduled to finalize on November21 at 1:00 p.m. Every time I think about that, it brings tears to my eyes. Still doesn't seem real!

We did not go all out for Halloween, just an orange "My First Halloween" onesie, black pants, and her pumpkin hat. Our neighbors typically have a pot luck in the cul-de-sac before they take their kids out trick-or-treating. One year, they just stayed and everyone passed out candy. The trick or treaters tend to skip our house as our lights are motion activated, so there is no way to keep them on. Handing out candy with the neighbors worked well for us. But we came back in when they headed out, which was fine as Lola is having a melt down. We think this is a growth spurt, she is sleeping a lot and started waking up a few nights ago in the middle of the night to be fed. Tonight we are going to try to get more rice cereal in her before she goes down. It lasts longer in her tummy, however, she gets mad at the bottle because it is so much more work for her to get the cereal out of the bottle. HOPEFULLY it will work.

Our friends, Russ and Rebecca, dressed Lola's BFF, Kate as Elvis...hoping they don't mind, but I HAVE to pass on one of her pictures. It is just to precious not to post!  We have decided that we need to buy stock in Duracell! Every toy we own is run by batteries. I even tried to protest that fact and was going to buy a wind up mobile. I have apparently been living in the 50s as they do not make wind up mobiles any more. What a conspiracy! We have bought rechargeables, so tonight, Rodney rounded up all they batteries and they are on the charger. Still, that's a lot of batteries. Well, I think it's time to bid farewell to October--looking forward to having family closer to our time zone tomorrow, Gam-ma and Gam-pa will be the SAME time, and Nana and Papa Jay will only be an hour later. We welcome November! Lola will OFFICIALLY become a Sherrard and we get to see family at Thanksgiving...we truely have something to be thankful for!

Taire told me that her son, Josh, feels like Lola "dethroned" him...so Lola sent Josh a note:

AFTERTHOUGHT: Please forgive any spelling errors on tonight's post...apparently Blogger did away with spell check and I'm not the best speller!

BFFs and Finalization!

 Wow! I have been very negligent in posting lately! I'm very sorry about that! I know you Lola fans are missing your Lola news and pics. She is dong wonderfully! right now, her BFF Kate is visiting from Colorado! We had a fun photo shoot yesterday and today. I missed out on the one yesterday, but the girls were in good spirits...today, not so much! But boy are they cute in their little overalls and matching hats! Kate's mom and dad, Russ and Rebecca, came to Phoenix for a visit and to see the U2 concert. Right now, they are at the U2 concert.

On Sunday, A friend of ours had a shower for Russ and Rebecca. It was great to see a lot of people from our small group and church that we hadn't seen in a while. Lola met some new friends and snuggled up to some.

 Here she is with our friend Jayme, this is pretty much where she stayed the entire time.

Since my last post, we hit the 3 month mark, so I have to post the Chu-Chu 3 month pic as well as Nada's Lamb pic. She is getting so big! Rebecca and I were laughing because as we discuss what the girls are doing right now, we frequently use the phrase "when Lola/Kate was little"...as if they aren't still little pea pods! What we REALLY mean is "when Lola/Kate was SO itty bitty nothing fit, and she was SO itty bitty that she really didn't do much but sleep/eat/poop!" They are doing so much more now! holding heads up, laughing, cooing. I really didn't know that babies actually said two different things: Wah and goo. They do. And Lola does both. Frequently. I love it!

At three months here is what has changed. We are now eating 6 oz a feeding (for the most part.) That was up from 4oz almost over night. Speaking of overnight...she is now sleeping through the night. I started to feel guilty about the fact that I had the overnight shift--which meant I didn't have to get up in the morning with her when we started skipping the overnight feeding. We have now gone to switching mornings so only one of us has to get up every other day. We have begun to drool. A lot. A LOT. The kid is a fountain. The words "prodigious drooler" have new meaning for me. She is the Beethoven of droolers. I used to be able to get away with washing her clothes every other wear, but no longer. She pretty much gives them a bath herself. No, she isn't teething, which is one thing she isn't doing crazy early! From all the research I've done (because this freaked me out a little) the excess drool is preparing her for more substantial food. Phew!

She already looks funny standing up almost on her own! This is her favorite position! She likes to have her feet in your lap while she stands and looks around. The book says that this should happen at 7 months. We've been doing it since just before 2, but not to this degree. Since she can't stand on her own, it makes life interesting when you are doing anything else!

This week, we have slept somewhere OTHER than the bouncy seat! I was so happy that she made it through the night in the bassinet! Of course we still won't go to (and stay) asleep without being swaddled, but that's OK, we just wrap it up, and the eyes close! We have a little Pavlovian thing going on with that swaddle! Having those 8-9 hours a night is wonderful!

Next weekend is Gam-pa's 80th birthday, so we are going to head down there to see him and Gam-ma! Lola is very excited about this, especially since we don't need the bouncy to sleep anymore.

The biggest news we have and the news we are so unbelievably excited about is that we have a court date!! Lola will officially be ours on November 21, National Adoption Day. I did some research on that, and in 2008, Maricopa County finalized more adoptions than any place else in the country. Apparently, it's a big media event and is televised. We can hardly wait and are looking for what to call that each year when we celebrate it. For sure, we will have something big to give thanks for that Thursday!

More Lawyers and Stuff

I started this most recent blog by complaining that no one had gotten back to me regarding the paperwork we needed to get the paperwork filed to the court, however, the next day, we received a packet in the mail confirming that everything had been sent/received. Woo hoo! Gam-ma and Gam-pa have been here this week. It's been nice to have them here. Dad has been going to his appointments at Mayo, and although we have an answer to what is wrong with him, at least what is wrong with his intestines, they are not sure what the next steps are. Apparently, what is wrong with him is quite rare and most GI docs have never heard of it, and the only place they can test for it is at Philadelphia Children's Hospital. Weird! Right now, momma and daddy are going to get their flu shots...then in a couple of weeks, we are going to get our H1N1 flu shot. Lola is too young for that, but we are not, and we don't want to bring those nasty buggers home to baby girl! It's been a while since we've had any big news to report, I guess no big advances in her development have occurred and we really haven't done anything worth reporting on...until now! This week has been very restful...the big reason? We have all of a sudden decided we want to SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! The first night it happened, we thought it was a fluke, or I thought that I had slept so hard I missed the wee early morning grunts that alert me to the tummy rumbles. But nope. Four out of the last 5 nights have been straight through! And from months 1 to 2, she was inconsistently eating between 3 and 4 oz. at each feeding (about 4 hours apart) but the last week or so, she has DRAINED the 4 oz bottle in about 10 minutes. This morning, she didn't seem quite satisfied, so I made 2 more oz. and she drained that too. Wow! It's like a switch was flipped. Officially, she won't be three months old until the 4th, however, week wise she hit three months on Saturday. It has been so fun to watch her grow. She's still sporting the "Terry Bradshaw" hairstyle (if you don't know what I mean, tune into Fox NFL Sunday...you'll see what I mean) in case any of you are wondering what's going on under the hats! She is also getting big! Last weigh in she was 11 lbs! That's twice the size she was when we left the hospital! Holding her head up, "supported sitting", and rolling over --when she feels like it. Gam-ma said she runs 10 miles every day just wiggling her feet. I'm guessing we will bypass the crawling and go right to running!
Lola had a rough evening, she knows Gam-ma and Gam-pa are leaving in the morning and it will be a while before she sees them again. :( But it was a lovely visit and we wish we all lived closer!

Grandparents and Fun!

Last week, Nana and Papa Jay came to visit us in Phoenix. Lola really enjoyed spending time with her grandparents and wishes they lived closer. We also enjoyed our time with Rodney's parents. This week, MY mom is here helping us out while we are at the Sylvan conference. Lola was great the first day, then the second day, Ga-ma didn't know that Lola sleeps A LOT; so there was lots of play time...and LOTS of fussy! She went to breakfast with us that last day of conference and Lola was decked out in her Sylvan garb...it's never too early to start Sylvan! We really enjoyed showing her off! We also couldn't have done it without my mom here to help!

Week Ten and Visitors

Not a lot new happening here. Nana and Papa Jay have come to visit and Lola is just getting so big. Last week we went to the pediatrician and Lola was 21 inches long and 10 pounds, 6 ounces. She's very animated, and as reported last time, she is turning over!
The pediatrician called her "determined".
Agreed.
We aren't sure what that means for the future exactly, but we have an inkling that means we will be chasing a little girl everywhere once those feet get some balance. She is often not content being held like a baby, and prefers to "stand" on our legs while looking at us, which is fine, but she has much more stamina (and apparently, attention) than we do and this usually can go on for a while.
After the pediatrician, we had some returns to make at Target and while we were there, we picked up the Bumbo.

If you aren't familiar with the Bumbo, it's a foam rubber type of baby seat that allows her to sit upright without being held--which she still LOVES to do. This has been a life saver when it comes to getting things done around the house. I was able to fix dinner the other night with limited interruption because of the Bumbo. Lola sat on the counter and watched me work. And she was completely entertained. Of course, she is still a little small for it (a fact that MANY people have pointed out to me) so she will quickly become this little puddle-y blob in the seat of it when she has had enough. Since she hasn't discovered toys yet, this has been good entertainment. Yay, Bumbo! Here she is with Nana in the Bumbo. She is trying to get Nana's new sparkly glasses!

The other thing people have had very strong opinions about is the green fluffy head piece. I happen to love it and she was a show stopper the day we wore it. However, I have been told not to put it on her again, and that she looks like a troll doll (to quote a few people). I'm glad my friends and family feel like they can speak their minds to me! :) I will say that my favorite look on Lola is her little feety pajamas. Here we are having some play time last night in her feety pjs!

Two Months and New Firsts

Yesterday Lola turned two months old. It's flown and she is growing, literally, right before our eyes! It has also been so fun to see this little tiny person do things for the first time. Today, it was rolling over...and over and over and over. (We kept doing it, just to be sure it wasn't a fluke!) As many of you know, I'm somewhat glued to my computer and this morning was no exception. A friend of ours who also has a little baby, had posted a picture on their blog of their little girl having tummy time on an ottoman. So Rodney brought in the ottoman from Lola's room and put the tummy-time mat on it so that I could be on my laptop and have Lola within reach. She hates tummy-time, and we have been lax in getting her to do it anywhere but on our chests. It's just sad to put her on her tummy and listen to her cry, so we just haven't been very disciplined in doing it. The fun thing about doing it on our chests is that she will push away with her hands and feet, then lean to one side and topple over. Then she alternates sides. We like that she seems to enjoy that when we do it and we get to participate. But the pediatrician told us we also needed to do tummy-time on a flat surface as well.

So this morning, we decided we needed to do it right. So I was on my laptop, chatting with a friend, and I notice that she was heading over. So I scooted the tummy time mat to the opposite edge of the ottoman so she didn't roll off, then started watching. Slowly she was rotating herself so that she was 1/4 of the way there, then 1/2 -- which is where I started snapping pictures, then voila! She was on her back. I SO couldn't believe it! So I flipped her

over and off she was again. And again, and again, and again. Four more times we did it before Rodney came to see. It would have been just my luck that she didn't do it again, but nope, over she went. We couldn't get her to stay on her stomach. So, looks like we may have missed our tummy-time window. It was just so exciting! I felt like I was at a sporting event rooting for my very favorite team! Go Lola! Go Lola! Wow!

Yesterday was the first Tech game of the season...Lola was decked out and ready to root for the Red Raiders with her daddy. Unfortunately, we don't get very many Tech games on TV here, so really she was sporting the red and black while Daddy got mobile updates sent to his phone! Either way, Momma had fun putting her in her little head to toe Red Raider outfit!

Our other first was the first time to leave Lola with a babysitter. We went to dinner with some friends last night and our neighbor's daughter (the one who house sat for us when we went to get Lola) came over and sat with Lola. We had a fun night out, but did miss our little girl. It was the first time we both went out and someone other than family watched her. We go to the pediatrician again on Tuesday, and then it's time for shots! Lola doesn't know the difference, but Rodney and I aren't looking forward to it at all. Will let everyone know how it goes! So, a very exciting day in the Sherrard household. One thing I've discovered is that this little girl is making my body ache! For some reason, I have injured my left wrist, right wrist and my lower back aches from leaning over and changing her. So one solution for me was to convert an old dresser we had in the garage to a changing table. It was a fun little project and I'm very pleased with the results. I sanded down the faces of the drawers and painted them animal print. Then replaced the bronze lion face drawer pulls with hot pink ones. So cute and today, my back doesn't hurt!

Here are the "plunger" pics side by side so we can see how she has grown in comparison to the pacifier!

More Family to Meet!

We just returned from a lovely trip meeting more of Lola's family in Texas. On Friday, we headed to Lubbock, Texas where Lola was so excited to meet her Uncle Bob and Aunt Kristi, Cousin Hannah and Cousin Jake (referenced, I believe in our first or second entry, and who provided a lot of motivation for getting the ball rolling on Lola, and provided a lot of bedtime prayers for us!) Lola also got to meet a lot of Rodney's friends from his growing up years, who are like family!

We were so worried when we left about how she would do on the plane. Because she is under two, we didn't have to buy a ticket for her, which meant we would have to hold her in our laps for the duration of the flight--both of the flights it takes to get to Lubbock. So Friday morning, I headed down to this great little shop called, Mother's Milk, in Old Town Scottsdale to purchase one of those slings for on the plane. We packed plenty of bottles so that we could keep her ears clear on take off and landing and take off and landing!

When we got to the gate, we found out that both of the flights were fairly empty so we could actually take her on the plane in the car seat (but we had to carry the car seat through the airport when we switched planes. We were so worried about how she would do...SHE DID BEAUTIFULLY! The flight attendant gave her a cute little certificate and wings to commemorate her first flight! (And she gave Rodney a deck of cards for being such a good boy! :) )

The weekend was so great! We saw our nephew, Jake, play baseball...a treat we don't often get since we live so far away! It was so nice to be with family! Lola had her first day at church and held it together very well...the only squeal was during a loud song and no one really heard her anyway! She made it through lunch at Rosa's (of course) and did beautifully at the church shower. We got lots of beautiful gifts from friends of Rodney's parents...we are so touched by their generosity! We also learned about a yummy new treat called Cake Balls...can't wait to try them out!!

Our trip home was not so smooth. We were excited that we weren't supposed to get off the plane when we stopped in Vegas (not sure why we passed Phoenix to get to Phoenix, but hey, we did) so we headed to the front of the plane so that we could get off quicker in Phoenix. HOWEVER, as we headed up the aisle, they announced that our flight was cancelled and we would have to head to another gate...all the way across the terminal. Because she had started to fuss, I took her out of the seat and gave our little sling a try. It worked like a charm...she snuggled right in and went to sleep. So this meant, as we headed across the terminal, I had a baby on my chest, diaper bag on my shoulder, dragging a rolling bag (thank goodness it rolled!), and Rodney had a computer bag on his back, and was carrying the car seat. Fun times.

AT LEAST they let us board first and we were able to get the first row, but this was after an hour wait in the airport. While we waited, we fed Lola 'cause she was a hungry girl! We strapped her back in the car seat and were headed home! The cutie got so many compliments on how cute, sweet, etc...until we started to land. Boy oh boy did she ever save up all that goodness for the flight home!!!
We thought the sling trick would work again. It did, for about two seconds. Then she started screaming. Loud. We had a little bit left in the bottle, so we put that in and voila! The crying stopped! Unfortunately, there was about 1/2 ounce in the bottle and when it was gone, she was MAD at me! So I made a quick dash when the plane landed, made a bottle and calmed her down while Rodney got our bags. All I can say is there were a lot of Vegas weekenders hating life (and us) for the last 20 minutes of that flight! Too bad the guy who cancelled our first flight wasn't in the next row! But, we can't complain, she was wonderful all weekend and misses her Nana and Papa Jay, Aunt Kristi and Uncle Bob, Cousins Hannah and Jake already!