And a HAPPY DAY it was!

We had a nice sweet Valentine's Day at home. Franki of course got spoiled (what else is new!) this baby has a lot of people loving her. Tyler, Franki and I were able to eat breakfast together. It was a nice simple breakfast (frozen waffles!) but it was the time spent that really counts. It was nice to wake up and have breakfast as a family. Franki loves her breakfast time and she has always found it entertaining to watch us eat and talk. Tyler and I finished our evening togehter with delivery Pizza, flowers, and a little bit of Just Dance and Broadway Dance! Yeah that is right my hubby wanted to see me shake my booty! I gave him a little homemade collage of pictures of Franki for his Desk at work! It was what I would call the perfect V-day. Franki hung out with my mom and Elle and got some pretty great gifts! Which I would say will now be a tradition. Growing up we always got small gifts from my mom for valentine's day. So therefore the tradition has now passed on to our little lady. Ty and I also got a little gift from them to enable us to enjoy a nice dinner out together this coming weekend. We have not gone to dinner or out just the two of us in quite sometime. We are overdue and so thankful to my mom and aunt for allowing us to get this time together. Franki was so excited to get her presents. She even opened them herself! She was a little more interested in eating the paper and card than she was with her actual presents. Today though she was absolutely loving her new toys. Her MoMa bought her a hokey pokey Elmo(it is tooo cute, when he is finished dancing he says whoa elmo is pooped). I just think Elmo toys are too cute. She also loves when we sing and dance along with it, probably because we look even goofier than Elmo when we dance. Elle got her a lawn mower for the summer that blows bubbles! It is too cute and I can already picture her pushing it around the yard!

On other news Franki was a pure angel on our recent trip to Minnesota (despite her newest stranger anxiety). She slept on the flight both ways and was really just a great baby especially since she was out of her usual environment. She got lots of loving and held more than usual which put us in a slight prediciment on sunday when we got home and she had gotten used to her momma holding her and sleeping with her we had an impossible night of sleep. Everytime I put her down she would flail her arm looking for me in her crib (little does she realize im just a bit to big to fit in her crib)! It was almost kinda sad to watch her moving her arm around with her eyes closed and crying in her sleep looking for her momma. I did a lot of waking up with her overnight and we also did a lot of cuddling that night. Luckily she got back on schedule yesterday and is back to her usual routine(which still isnt sleeping all night long but waking up 2 times a night is better than 10 times). Overall though my sweet angel was percect and she makes a lasting impression on all the little old ladies we came across.

Elle and I almost positive that Franki said her first word today. We say hi and bye to her a lot. We say hi all the time to her and it always puts a big smile on her face. Elle said hi to her and is clearly sounded like she said hi back. So we repeated it again and again clearly she repeated HI! Im sure she has no idea what she is saying but she is definitely repeating the phonics in the word. We couldnt help but laugh becuse it sounded so funny to hear it in her high pitched little tone! So well have to see what little miss Franki babbles tomorrow! Enjoy some of her V-Day photos!

Also for all you mom's out there Franki got the cutest book for V-Day from my Ellen and MoMa. Presenting Tallulah by Tori Spelling (is so stinkin cute and Highly reccommended!) Also Smooch your Pooch which is a totally cute book especially if you have a dog at home. Happy Love Day everyone! 

Screamer

Love these pictures of her. Isnt that little face sweet? Plus look at all that snow! It was a crazy lovely day and I want to make sure Franki remembers all that snow. She watched her Daddy try to sled down the hill in the garbage lid, she also watched her daddy wipe out and sink into the snow about 1 foot from the top of the hill! It's days like that that mean so much. We were stuck for 24 hours together and loving every minute of it!

Well I have been meaning to get this on tape in order to show her lung volumes and ability to talk loudly! I know I have been talking about it forever, but havenet recorded it. Well it just so happens that Ellen got the whole thing on tape. She loves her Jenny Jump Up so much she decides to tell you all about it in this video!

Also she finally decided to ROLL! Yep that is right she is rolling from her stomach to her back with ease now and she can just about get herself into the sitting position from her belly. She might be tiny but she sure is strong. Enjoy!

Teether

 Swimmer!

 Naked Baby!

 Beautiful!

 Glam Girl!

Franki is really starting her teething adventure. So we have had our ups and downs with happy and crabby baby lately. Of course ususally much happier than she is crabby, but you can tell when her mouth is bothering her. I think we have finally come up with a good cocktail that keeps her comfortable. Including occasional motrin, teething tablets, oragel, cold teethers, and frozen waffles. She opens her mouth anytime she sees that you are handing her anything. She cant wait to get things in her mouth to soothe those gums. WE arew still waiting to actually see the tooth pop in. If we had bets on it though I think we will see the right bottom tooth pop up in the next few weeks or so. It really is affecting how much we sleep. I havenet gotten much sleep in the last couple of weeks. We have gone back to month 2 of life where she is waking up at 2-3 hour intervals and just wants to be held and nursed. Although in between feeds I have been trying to give her water per the pediatricians recommendations to get her to drink more milk during the day. So I am almost praying that these teeth just come in soon so that we can get a little more sleep. Its hard because she only wants to nurse when she wakes up, so Tyler cant really get up and help me because then she seems to just get more mad. .
I always talk about how happy and talkative she is. I have attached a video for everyone to see her little personality shining through.

6 months!

Happy Half Birthday my little punky butt! Today we went for all the fun 6 month check up and shots! I wanted her to get the flu shot asap so we made sure to go literally the day she turned 6 months! She got all of her shots and her ears pierced. She looks too cute. I cant even describe how precious her little ears look. She screamed more thatn I have ever heard her scream but within about five minutes and me letting her play with my cell phone (what can I say kids are really starting early these days with there liking to cell phones :)) she was her happy little smiling babbling self. She weighed in at a WHOPPING 14 lbs and 4 oz, 25 inches, head was 16 1/4. Her weight is in the 15%. Her height is 25% and her head is the 15th percentile. She continues to grow just at a snails pace. The Doctor would like to see her gaining more weight . I told her this baby eats all the time only one problem she is a spitter, she has been since day one and contiues to still spit up (although it is getting much better). WE have also started feeding her but the doctor says she is goiing to need the bulky meat stuff in order to really put on some pounds. So this week instead of some yummy fruit or vegetable, Ill be whipping up some  turkey and beef. Yummy! Not sure what she will think of this, but whatever I got to do well do it. Either way this babe is well on her way to becoming such a little girl. She is meeting all of her age appropriate milestones and the doctor is really impressed with her attention and the how easily she is to distract.  Thats my girl she is just really attentive and I love it. You can tell she is going to be a girl who likes detail. She looks at your face with this sweet look like she is memorizing every inch of your face. She is also a little fish these days. We started swimming lessons two weeks ago and she loves it. I think she honestly likes looking at the other kids more than she like swimming, but either way she really handles the water well. Its a really great mother daughter class and they teach survival skills. We sing songs in the water and splash around. We even put her under the water, she isnt to sure about this but I cant say that she doesnt like it her face just shows a little bit of shock when you pull her out! We are having so much fun and  I enjoy seeing how much watching her little brain soaks up all kinds of new things like a sponge. She is seriously so in love with Hulk and I love it. It was a little warmer today so we took Hulk outside to chase the ball. I had her in the baby Bjorn so that we could run with with. She was watching him run and every time he went after the ball she would Belly Laugh hysterically. It was so cute. Hulk really doesnt have to do anything to impress her, she just watches him and smiles. There relationship is blossiming. The last week or so Hulk is so excited to see her when we get home from somewhere, he cries in excitement until I take her out of her car seat and then he kisses her all over. Next time Ill get it on camera it is just too sweet. When I have my camera cord back Ill post some sweet pictures of my little swimmer! For now were on to growing with lots of Love and a little meat too!

Spoiled? Not my Baby!

Nearing the 6 month mark! Franki is trying all new types of food. So far she has tried carrots, Sweet potatoes, apples, pears, bananas, and baked potatoes.  She is not a fan of anything orange hence she coughs and gags as soon as the carrots or sweet potatoes hit her mouth. So those are on the back burner for a few more weeks and then we will try again. She LOVES bananas! She can eat an entire banana in one sitting! She also likes combinations of Bananas and Apples, and Apples an Pears! She also loves rice cereal. She is such a funny little thing these days. She really is starting to get frusturated and she knows exactly how to get what she wants. The second you take something away or walk away from her she starts crying (no tears) just a high pitched whining sound and then immediately stops if you give her the toy back. She isnt spoiled now is she! Oh yeah she is. Below is a video of just how spoiled she knows she is! Love everything about this little punky girl! She is also aquiring lots of nicknames lately. We tend to call her Punky a lot, occasionally stinky, love bug. All with affection of course! Stinky doesnt sound  nice but when you say it the way we do somehow its cute. Its just funny how nicknames sort of just pop into your head and stick. She is also obsessed with HULK (not mutual). She looks for him all the time and smiles at him when she sees him. She reaches him when he walks by her and occasionally gets to pet him when he gets close enough. She gets so excited by him, smiling kicking her arms and legs and squeeling, hopefully one day he will feel the same about her. For now he is scared of her. He is just never sure about what her next move is going to be and that scares him. Love my little Punky Girl!

Big Girl!

 Look at ME!

 Whatcha Looking at?

 Just Playing

Seriously How Cute is She?

New House, New Job, Same Sweet Babe

So we have not had internet access and have been out of all of our cords for plugging in computers, cameras etc. So it has been hard to update anything . We are officially in our new home. It has come a long way in the week we have moved. We had lots of help from family and friends and are so thankful to all of them for doing so. It made the move very smooth adn easier than I expected. Everything is organized and set up just how we like it. We dont even know what to do with all this space! It is wonderful, cabinent space, closet space, bathrooms, extra rooms, etc. Oh that and the fact that my job is seriously 4 yes 4 minutes from our house. Does it get any better than that?

Speaking of my job. So far I am really loving it. Its good to know I still have my game on when it comes to patient care and actually getting to do nurse things! It has been very hands on and I really love it. I have probably seen over 30 patients in my three days at work. Emergency rooms provide for lots of great stories and also teach you what not to let you kids do! One of the Docotors that works there has been really great about treating me adn respecting the fact that although I am practicing as a nurse that I also have my nurse practitioner degree. He asks me my opinion on patient care, lets me do throughouh histories ont he patient and also listens to what I think should be done for the patient. I am slowly on my way to learning the ropes of the Pediatric emergency room. The main difference from CDH to Childrens is the patient population. I am used to and love the low income, medicaid, all kids, uninsured patients. Call me crazy but most of the time these families are incredibly grateful and tahnkful for the care that is being provided to them for free to no cost. That being said there were plenty of times at Childrens that we came across those families that we hard to deal with and ungrateful for the "free" care they were being provided. A majority of patients at Children's are uninsured. While at CDH you have got the middle/high class people and about 75-80% all have private insurance with some cushion to follow. Therefore they seem to expect a little more. They expect that every test be run (even when it is completely unnecessary and possibly exposes there child to exttra blood draws, needles, radiation, etc). They know they can pay so they want the service provided. Its just a very differnt environment and for me this will take some getting used to That being said all biases aside. Every hospital, every patient deserves indivdualized and compasionate care that I am willing to provide to the rich, poor, thankful, selfish. When I walk in those doors although hard to let my bias go, I do and I give all I have. I always will and always have. Although it was very hard and very bittersweet to leave what I always wanted, my lifelong childhood dream to be employed at Children's. It was what was best for me and my family. The obvious fact is that no matter what hospital, what city, there are always going to be kids that need to be treated. I am just thankful to be able to do that. Do what I love and that is to treat patients, treat children of all ages, watch them come in and get better because of something we as healthcare workers can do. So I have embraced my new job. Great people + Close to home + More time with family and friends = so totally worth it! Keep praying that I get hired as a NP in the pediatric ER sooner than later though!

Same sweet Baby! My sweet 5 1/2 month old decided to skip the rolling over stage and sit. She has been sitting up since monday. The entire week before anytime she was on her back she would be doing what I call the mini crunch, trying to lift her head and legs off the ground in order to sit herself up. It was too cute. She loves sitting up. She still is wobbly so we keep pillows around her for those times. She can play with all her new toys from christmas while she sits up. She  is becoming more of a big girl everyday and its not hard to believe that I love her more and more with every passing second. Got to go since she is awake and I hate to miss out on any special time with her. Pictures will be posted soon, when everything is unpacked and cords are found!