Trip to Texas

Spring

Don't we all just love spring! After being inside with a newborn all winter I must say I'm really ready for spring! Hopefully we'll get to enjoy it for a little while before we jump into a Texas summer!

Here are some spring photos. Not exactly the best place to build a birds nest! When Lane opened the grill lid to cook this is what he found. We feel bad moving it, but I really don't think it's going to work out.
Our tulips are back for another season! Yeah! My gardening skills at their best!








Lane was lucky and got to "work" Monday on the golf course up in Pittsburgh. They golfed at this really nice course called Oakmont where I guess they hold the US open quite often. The boy has it pretty rough.

She's discovered ducks...

Thanks to the amazing spring weather, we've been having so much fun meeting with dad for lunches!! Danelle loves going to the duck pond by Lane's work and watching all the ducks hang around us.











Friday night Lane was able to baptize a new convert Pete, who will be in his Young Mens group. Saturday we had a campfire-since i'm the YW's Camp Director- and then got to BBQ and hot tub afterwards. It feels like we're trying to make up for lost time outside these past few days! I think Danelle is slowly adjusting to life outside of the house too!

An Enchanted Evening & The Appalachian Trail

This weekend Lane took me to our Stake's Adult Dance and since we couldn't find a sitter for Danelle she got to come too! The next morning Lane got up and went on a hike with the scouts covering several miles of the Appalachian Trail! Oh and another weekend highlight was when Danelle slept 9 hours on Friday night! Her longest yet! (normally she still gets up for a 3 am feeding....) Wish us luck!

Don't mess with Texas...

WE'RE MOVING! Lane got a promotion (he works for a company called Schreiber) and so in his new position he'll be covering the clients in the South West states like Texas, Arizona, Utah, Colorado...etc.

So...we pretty much get to pick where we want to live- how cool is that -since he'll be working from home and then traveling to those places every so often. We're pretty sure we're going to do Texas for it being central to where most of his business will be (so less traveling) , the cost of living is very good and frankly we both thought it would be fun to live in Texas for awhile! We're both not sure how long we'll be there, i'm sure a couple of years is all though- unless we really love it and decide to stay :) . I'm sure many of you are thinking it's a bit odd that we didn't choose Colorado (or Utah) since we've always been talking about moving there but we figure we still have plenty of time to get to Colorado and for now Texas is a better fit!

As for when we will be moving we will find out later this week. It sounds like we'll take a house hunting trip the first of May and then pretty much whenever we're ready we can move! Danelle seems a little nervous about Texas in this picture...
Here we are celebrating at TGI Fridays. Danelle has been so good when we take her out places, it really makes it so much easier to go out more often! We even brought her little chair with us! She loves to feel a part of the action!We of course have loved living out here on the East Coast, and especially living in this part of Pennsylvania! It has been so amazing to get to visit several times cities like D.C. NYC, Philly, Pittsburgh, Baltimore just to name a few! And we've made so many wonderful friends that we will miss dearly! 2 years has gone by fast! I'll keep you posted on all the updates of the move!

Texas vs. Colorado

So, if you could choose between living anywhere in Colorado or Texas, which state (or city) would you choose? *Vote on the poll to the right... & don't worry, it's anonymous :)

Spring Break/Easter Trip

Babies on a Plane!

Any advice for traveling with a 3 month old on an airplane? We're finally letting my family meet little Danelle :) and I'm trying to figure out what to pack, should I bring the car seat to the gate, put her in a snugli and avoid the stroller in security, i'm nursing her but should I bring extra bottles, and so on. She'll be a lap infant so no extra seat and it's on NW airlines so I think we'll just have an isle and middle seat with Lane & I...so any advise is greatly appreciated!!!

Danelle's Week In Review

Riding with Dad in his new b-day car (scared for her life), Stroller rides (a.k.a. SPRING FEVER!!!) and holding toys and trying not to whack herself with them.

Not to be left out...

Danelle was a little jealous that her cousin Chase got to show off his baby rolls, so here's one from her. (don't worry we will not start the whole comparing babies business... Chase would eat her alive!)Also, family keeps asking "What color are her eyes"? And since Lane and I both have blue, i'm pretty sure her's will be staying blue too! It's just hard to tell in most of the pictures we post of her...

Am I really going to raise a daughter!?!

Baby Giggles

Oh the noises she makes!

2 months is such a fun age! She is smiling ALL the time, she loves to "talk" to us with all kinds of funning sounding coo's and she loves exploring with her hands!

"Oh Danelle looks just like...."

For everyone who says, "Oh, she looks just like Lane or she looks just like Elise"... here you go!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Our Sunday Best

I just wanted to report to the grandparents that Danelle did wonderful in church today! She slept the whole time which is quite a bit of sleeping for her and especially for how noisy it was. I also snapped a bunch of pictures of her so scroll down to see all her cute expressions!!! (there's a lot of them...)

She's starting to SMILE!!!!!

Danelle practicing for church...

This is Danelle asking questions in Sunday School, singing , praying and pondering. We'll work on reading the scriptures next week... (and I swear, I didn't even move her hands into position- it's just nice to have a fast camera!!!)

TOUCHDOWN!!!!

Oh and more importantly, she's ready for Super Bowl Sunday!!! Lane taught her this one :)

What a Great Man!

On guard!

Thank you soooo much for all the advice and ideas! So we found out a few things that work so far to get her to fall asleep...vacuum + swaddling + lots of movement! Even then she'll wiggle her arms out and she likes to stick them straight up in the air or protect her face! We like to call her our little boxing champ because of all the pictures we have of her "protecting her face" w/ her hands. I think she's still adjusting to life "on the outside"!!!! Such a little cutie! It's not so bad always cuddling with her either!

We've made progress!!!

This girl loves to check out whats going on around her! She's probably wondering what the heck that noise is. This is a rare moment of her awake & happy in the swing- normally we can only put her in it when she's already sleeping! Either way we love the swing!

A newborn insomniac?...any suggestions?

So let me just say that I LOVE being a mom! Now with that aside does anyone have any suggestions or ideas that helped them with their newborn sleeping? I'm not sure how common it is but this little girl doesn't want to sleep! Most of the problem is she doesn't like to be put down. She doesn't like the bouncer, swing, crib, swaddling, pacifiers, etc. Oh she'll sleep if we hold her, bounce her, (such as in her snugli) but that's about it. We went to the pediatrician last week and she was all good for her 1 month check up, gaining plenty of weight etc. but when I mentioned her lack of sleeping to the Dr. she just said "Ah, don't worry about it."
It just started about a week or two ago, which is when all the grandparents left. Up until then she had been held all the time and therefore had been sleeping a lot more...
I have tried letting her "cry it out alone" for several mins. , checking on her, and knowing she's been fed, burped, changed, etc. But as soon as I calm her down and put her back down it's the same thing all the way until her next feeding (which is about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours right now). Or she'll sleep for 20 mins. then start grunting and eventually wake up. Let me tell you this little girl is grunting all the time! Not sure if it's gas, burps, acid reflux or what! So... I guess i'm looking for suggestions on how to get her to not be held all the time/ sleeping. Did anyone else have this same issue with one of thier newborns?

1 month old!!!

Wow what an amazing month this has been! So great being a mom, and yet has it really been a month since i've slept? I have a confession... I honestly had NO CLUE how often i'd be up feeding a newborn until I was in the hospital with her! I kept meaning to take a class or read up about nursing, but didn't get around to it and so the whole concept of feeding every 2-3 hours day & night didn't even occur to me until then... talk about a reality check!

The Nursery is done!!!

One of the upsides to having to wait so long to be able to have your first kid, is you can save up and spoil them when they get here! I had so much fun setting up her little room, and hopefully she'll like it enough to wanna sleep in it too, we're still working on that part!