BFF FUN!

A total highlight of November was a visit from RAQUEL!!!! Only my BFF since forever ago! :) It was so so awesome to see her!!! We hadn't really hung out since the wedding, almost 4 years ago, and because of the circumstances, even that visit didn't cut it. Anyway, it had been YEARS!

She came to visit for a week, and she got to meet Aliyah!! It was so great!! We took her to DC for a day...Baltimore another day...shopped, and just hung around the house relaxing. She mostly wanted to just hold Aliyah, which was totally fine by me! :) She was such a big help!!

Here are some pics of her time here.... Thanks for taking the time and money to come see us Quels!! WE LOVE YOUUU!!!!!!!

First "Social" Smile

This morning was special...

Aliyah got up pretty early (around 6:15ish). She wasn't in the mood to go back to sleep after eating like she usually does, so I got up with her and went to the kitchen to make my coffee. While we waited for it to brew, we sat down on the couch to hang out. I was talking and singing to her, and she was looking at me, seeming to pay very close attention to me (much to my surprise!). Then all of a sudden, she smiled real big!! I wasn't sure if it was a real smile ("social" smile as it's called, ha!), or a "i-have-gas" smile; so I repeated the same thing over again. Talked and sang, and poked at her cheeks. Sure enough, she smiled again and again! It was so cute and special!

YAY for social smiling! Although she's been smiling since day one, not once had it ever been or seemed, intentional! I was soooo waiting for the moment when she would smile out of happiness, or because she thinks I'm hysterically funny! :) I guess that moment finally arrived! :) Yay! (Maybe not the part about thinking I'm hysterically funny, but I at least would like to think so!)

So yeah, fun times...thought I would share that.

We've had a good week.

Yesterday we took a day trip to New Castle, Delaware. Beto likes to try to make it at least once a year to go see his college soccer team play. They had a game in Delaware yesterday, so Delaware it was! We had a really nice time. It was about a two hour drive away and Aliyah slept basically the whole trip. So she missed the whole thing, but at least we can say that she went! :) Her first Nyack soccer game. Actually, her first soccer game, period.

Aliyah and I watched the second half of the game from inside of the car.

It was SO cold outside!

Also this week, we got together with a good friend from high school, Ray. He's out from LA right now, just wandering around the East Coast. We met up with him for dinner. Was great to catch up! It's always sooo great to see old friends, ESPECIALLY ones from high school. It's so easy to instantly re-connect! And reminiscing of those old days always brings the brightest smiles to my face! I'm glad Aliyah got to meet an old friend of ours.

A Few More Updates and Fun With Friends...

Now that I was able to share the good news about poopy diapers, I figure I can get back to blogging about normal things.

So, changes...let's see?

Aliyah is doing awesome still! She definitely is changing a little more everyday - in looks/chunkiness, habits, etc. I love that she's one month now...only 11 more months until my favorite stage starts! Ha! :) (Not that I'm counting down or anything!) ;)

Aliyah...I'm going to LOVE every stage with you (I just secretly have my favorites, that's all!) :)

She still loves to eat like it's nobody's business. We're ALMOST, sort-of learning that to be awake, does NOT mean the same thing as hunger. Ha! She is slowing realizing that having her eyes open, isn't supposed to be code for, feed me! She still eats a ton though. On the weekend, I started giving her SIX OUNCE bottles! To some, that may not mean anything, but trust me, for a tiny little thing like her, that is A LOT! Anyway, eating department basically hasn't changed. She loves to eat, all the time.

She does SO well when we're out! Thankfully so, because we're out A LOT! This is something we really wanted her to learn early. We needed her to be ok while being out, because we did NOT want to cut back on being out! :) (Sorry for going way overboard on the word "out") She was either going to have to like it, or just learn to roll with the punches, even if she hated it. Ha. Don't get me wrong, she's not in love with her car seat or anything, and still will get upset having to be in it sometimes. But for the most part, she does awesome. She can sit a whole car ride, staring around, while staying very content. Most times, she falls asleep. And by the way, those sleeps are my favorite...if she falls asleep in the car, I can count on her being COMPLETELY zonked out for a good 2-3 hours plus. Those are probably her most solid naps. Occasionally, she'll hate being in her car seat - but that usually means she's hungry or overly tired. Then of course she just cries it out, and THEN falls asleep! :)

Let's see, what else is new? She's sleeping in her crib now like a big girl! I was basically waiting for all our guests to leave before starting her in her crib. I wasn't sure how it would go, and thought it would be best to keep her in her bassinet in our room while having people in the house. That way, if she cried, I could tend to her quickly before waking everyone up! Her first night in the crib was last Wednesday. So far, so good! :) I thought I would be sad to have her so far away (her room is complete opposite side of the apartment), but that's not been the case at all! Ha! I sleep like a baby, Beto sleeps like a baby, and Aliyah, well, she is a baby, and sleeps like one! :)

Last night was one of our best nights yet! She went to bed around 11 pm. Woke up at 3:15 am (her normal time). Usually when she wakes up in the night, she's not awake at all - just hungry. So usually I feed her and she goes right back down. Last night, however, she was so WIDE AWAKE, and I was SO NOT WIDE-AWAKE! (we had had a little bit of a rough morning the day before, with daylight savings, so I guess I was not recovered from that yet!) Anyway, I was too tired to be up with her. So I fed her, changed her and just layed her back in her crib and went back to bed. Haha! Sounds cruel, I know. I have the monitor though, so I could still see and hear her. I expected her to be very upset with me, and just cry. And I was totally prepared to let her cry for a bit, let her get sleepy while doing so! Well, turns out, she didn't cry at all! She layed there for a good 20 minutes, totally wide-eyed, and then fell asleep on her own. AWESOME! Then, even better. She didn't wake up at her normal time (5:30, 6ish). She slept all the way til 7:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay for that! Awesome night.

Another great thing to report - she hardly cries at all now for baths! I think she actually enjoys them now. I bathe her at night, right before going to bed. She must love the soothing warm water at that time of night. I know I would. Babies have it good, let me tell you.

I could write umpteen dozen other things about Aliyah's progess and the new things she does....but I'll save you all the boredom of my rambling.

Lastly, just a few pictures to share of fun times with friends.....

Sofi with the silly boys... She seemed to be ok with Superman (although somewhat unsure). But she didn't take to Bill Clinton in the Ghost Buster suit AT ALL! Lol!!!

Sofi giving Aliyah a kiss :)

Aliyah with Aunt Kristin and Unkini

Sof was a lady bug, for a couple of minutes! :) She then proceeded to yank off the antennas! :) Love this little Sof-Bug

Hanging out in Sof's play room

Sof, learning to be "gentle" with Aliyah :)

Aliyah meeting Grace for the first time :)

Normal Sunday afternoon, hanging out at the Gillotts'

Learning to dance with Aunt Jessie

We have a ONE MONTH OLD that goes poopy!

Happy Belated One Month Old Birthday Aliyah!!

Yesterday, our baby girl munchkie turned one month old! Her one month old birthday came with a special birthday surprise - NORMAL POOPIES!!

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I told you that next time I updated, I hoped to have good news in that department. Well, in all honesty, I actually waited til I had the good news to update! Ha! So now I can write again!! :)

Apparently her little digestive system is regulating itself, and getting used to the formula. Praise Jesus!! We spent lots of time praying for her little tummy, asking the Lord to heal her from any and all digestive problems she may have. Funny story - we're SO not used to the new and approved digestive system that poops on its own....that last night after a while of a very upset little girl, we finally realized she had a poopy diaper! Who knew? We're not used to poopy diapers, especially checking for them! Ha! Poor thing, who knows how long she had to sit in that. She was probably like, "What's wrong with you people?! What in the world are you making me sit in for this long?! It's disgusting!" Ha!

So since turning a month old yesterday at 5:22 am, she has had 5 poopy diapers, and has gone ALL on her own! And by that I mean, no help! For the past almost a month, when she did poop, we had to help. I won't include the details. Just know it was very heartbreaking, and for most everyone would probably be too gross to read about! :)

Anywho, perhaps she thought she had to be a big girl to go? Well, she's certainly big now, and going!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY DOLL!