Where Have We Been?

Some of you may be wondering whether I've fallen off the planet. Good news, the answer is "no." I have, however, been traveling a lot lately. Here are a few pictures of our adventures!


My parents with Delaney and Jael. Holly and Jael came here, then the four of us traveled to Illinois where we met up with my parents and visited family. The grandmas were so excited to meet the babies! My mom came back with us and spent a week here while my dad and brother were in Sweden. ps-getting two children to look at the camera at the same time is nearly impossible









Ryan, Delaney, and I on a sailboat in Chicago. Last weekend we visited Ryan at school and spent Saturday in Chicago. His entire class went on the boat ride on Lake Michigan along the city's shoreline. D had no trouble finding her sea legs! The view was great and the weather was perfect for a day on the lake. We also strolled the Navy Pier and drove down Michigan Ave.

Delaney's love affair with the couch. She's becoming more steady on her feet so I prop her against the couch and she practices holding on for dear life. It seems she likes the taste of worn leather.

She Sits

On Wednesday, Delaney could sit by herself for several seconds, then would topple over unless I caught her. Imagine my surprise when yesterday she started sitting like a pro!

Back from South Bend

We had a great weekend with Ryan at UND. Delaney and I arrived Friday evening and were greeted by lots of Ryan's classmates wanting to meet the newest addition to the family. Later, a few of us went out to dinner, then the family headed to our hotel to catch as much sleep as possible because on Saturday morning Ryan ran a half marathon! The Sunburst Hall of Fame to Notre Dame starts at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend and finishes at the 50 yard line of the ND stadium. It was awesome seeing Ryan complete a 13 mile run in one hour and 39 minutes, he's been training for a couple of months and it definitely paid off as he beat his goal time.

When we got back to our room it was really warm so we called the front desk to have the a/c checked. Long story short, it couldn't be fixed so we were moved to another room and given a gift certificate to a local restaurant called The East Bank Emporium. We went for dinner and the food was fabulous! An added bonus, or deterrent, our waitress swore the place was haunted.

Unfortunately, homework doesn't take a vacation so Sunday was study day. Delaney and I relaxed while Ryan busted his butt to catch up after taking the day before off. He was a little delayed in getting started when we found that one of our vehicles had a flat tired that needed changing, the only bummer in an otherwise great trip! Ryan crossing the finish line, look for the arrow over his headWoohoo it's over

Proud papa

Cuters!

A picture I took for Ryan...

Is It August Yet?

Today Ryan left for his last summer at Notre Dame. I'm really excited he'll be done with his masters degree in August and equally bummed he'll be gone for two and a half months. After two deployments you'd think such a short time would seem like nothing, but I've been spoiled having him home and wish UND was next door! There's an obviously huge difference this time around, I'll be playing the role of single parent. AHHHHHH!
Those of you who take care of a child/children on your own full time or have had the opportunity thanks to the army, please offer any words of wisdom you've gleaned from these experiences! My biggest fear is not getting a break at the end of the day and on weekends. Delaney is a lovely child, and like all babies has the power to make me crazy after several hours of fussiness. How do you regroup when there's no one to relieve you? I guess after a few weeks I'll have figured it out, but in the meantime any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
There are a few things I'm looking forward to during the summer: several visits to South Bend, a trip to see family and a few visitors heading my way, mostly to see Delaney ;) Hopefully, time will fly and August will be here before we know it!

Congrats Michele!

We had a great weekend in Lancaster celebrating Michele's graduation. It was the first time everyone from my side of the family was together since Holly and Luke's wedding, 3 years ago! A family friend was out of town for their own daughter's graduation and was gracious enough to let us stay in their house. Thanks a bunch, Muellers! Here's a few pictures from the trip....

Grandpa and Delaney

Our little familia Dad, Michele and Mom

Holly and Jael

Traveling with a baby has its challenges and perks. Until trying to leave the house for several days with a baby, its hard to imagine just how much you use to keep that child fed, clothed, and happy. On the upside, Delaney was our ticket to viewing the graduation ceremony indoors on a big screen TV instead of outside on cold, wet bleachers! Yeah for parenthood!

Laughter

African Children's Choir

This Sunday our church hosted the African Children's Choir. What an amazing group of children! They range in age from 7-12 years old and come from Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Rwanda, and other impoverished nations of Africa. Either one or both of their parents are deceased, leaving them to completely fend for themselves if not for the choir and its parent organization, Music for Life. Several troupes perform around the world for political and spiritual leaders, general audiences, and one was recently showcased on Ellen. After "graduating" from the choir, the children continue their education with the goal of making a better future for Africa. Singing and dancing, these kids melted my heart in a nanosecond! If interested, click on the first link to find out more and become a supporter.

Pictures?

We took our camera to NY planning on getting cute pictures of Delaney and the grandparents and of the cabin. Apparently, no one should ever trust Ryan or I with capturing family memories, because the only pictures taken were of Myles and the turkey he shot and... Dottie the Devil Dog

Weekend in NY

After Ryan got off work Thursday we headed to Little Genesee to visit the Pearsall grandparents. Miraculously we missed heavy traffic and bad accidents on our way out of town, and it was nearly smooth sailing from there. Sometime after Cleveland Delaney had a huge fit, so we had to make an extra stop to calm her down. We arrived around 11, where we were greeted by a tired, yet very excited, grandma, Uncle Myles, and the dogs.
Ryan, Myles, and Grandpa P spent Friday attending a business conference at the church, while the ladies relaxed and played with the baby. We had dinner at the Beef 'N' Barrel restaurant in Olean, yum! The specialty is beef on wick, an awesome sandwich everyone should experience at least once in their lives.
Saturday was spent lounging for some, work or playing for others. In the afternoon we all went to Oswayo to see the cabin/house (not sure what the official title is :) and took a nice walk. Sunday morning we went to church, then had lunch and headed home. A great weekend!

Happy Half Birthday!

Delaney is 6 months old today! Hard to believe, time's really gone by fast. To commemorate the day, we decided it was a good time to try her first meal with spoon. Fun!

The first bite. She was a little confused but took it in stride and swallowed most of it. Not necessarily a gourmet meal to us, but formula and rice cereal is her favorite!

She got a little messy, as she was distracted by the candle holder hanging on the wall behind her. The girl has her priorities.

Gimme the spoon, lady, I wanna do it! A couple of attempts to get the spoon in her mouth were successful. All the others ended with it on the floor and cereal spatters on the wall!

For Fran.....

We Love Ya!!

Tired!

Hi All! I'm tired! It's been over a week since my last post, but it feels more like a month. No major parenting challenges lately, it just seems like sleep is less effective post baby. Not to mention that on some days I'm convinced my house will never be spotless again. Most of you know I like things clean, but squeezing in chores between Delaney's naps is getting more difficult as they are becoming fewer and shorter. Now that you're all convinced my delirium is sleep related, here's what I've done during my "free" time......

Where's Waldo, baby style

Easter

Hope you all had a great Easter! We had a good Sunday,
took a bagillion pictures of Delaney so to spare you all I'm only posting this one! It was a miracle we got any before she started spitting up. Sorry if that's tmi, but the girl's a pro. Ryan and I were ushers at church and I helped with the egg hunt afterwards. Tons of little kids scrambling to grab as many as possible, pretty hilarious! Our Easter dinner was untraditional, Ryan requested lasagna. To pass the afternoon we watched some basketball (Ryan's pick) and a very interesting PBS special on a piece of linen considered to be what was wrapped around Jesus when he was placed in the tomb (my pick). In all a great day, He is risen indeed!

New Pictures

Can I borrow the car?

Seriously, more pictures?

Shameless plug......Go Carolina!

Really Random

It's no secret the price of groceries is going up, so to offset the cost I've been trying to be a smarter shopper by clipping coupons and looking for sales. There are several really good websites where you can search for and print grocery coupons: www.couponmom.com, www.eversave.com, and www.coolsavings.com. I was looking for a deal on pop (that's soda to some of you) and discovered there are people selling coupons on eBay! Madness! They must be clipping them out of their local newspapers and the bidding starts at a few pennies. Who knows if, in the long run, it's worth it to go to so much trouble to save 50 cents. More power to those folks, I'll be sticking with the Sunday ads and my scissors.

Cookies!

I found this on http://www.allrecipes.com/, and it makes the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had! One of the reviewers suggested a couple of changes, so this is the altered version of the original. If you're baking for just a few people, half the recipe.
4 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (3.4 oz) pkgs instant pudding (any flavor works, I like vanilla)
4 eggs
2 T plus 2 tsp vanilla
4 cups chips

Preheat oven to 350. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together and set aside. Cream butter and sugars. Add pudding mix, blend. Add eggs and vanilla, blend. Slowly add flour mixture until blended. Stir in chips. Drop spoonfull (or use cookie scoop) onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Trip to the Hospital

Last week we had a little scare from Miss Delaney. I was changing her diaper and noticed her lips and hands were blue! After calling her pediatrician and Ryan we headed to the E.R. They did blood and urine tests (an iv and catheter, frickin horrible), and a chest x-ray and couldn't find any problems. The doctor started using words like S.I.D.S. and acute life threatening event and wanted to keep her overnight for observation. We were transferred to Nationwide Children's Hospital by ambulance, where she was admitted and hooked up to an apnea monitor for the night. The next day an E.K.G. was ordered and Ryan and I attended an infant C.P.R. class before being released. Diagnosis: not really sure what happened but we can't find anything wrong so if it happens again call the doctor. Blah!! Nothing is worse than fearing something is seriously wrong with your child! Good news though, she's doing great.

Good Parenting

Delaney and I just returned home from Kroger, where I witnessed a slightly disturbing exchange between a little boy and a store clerk. While waiting in line to pick up Ryan's dry cleaning (domestic much?) this boy and his mother were in front of me. He dropped the toy he was playing with, and when the clerk picked it up and handed it to him the reply was "Hey gimme that." His mom completely ignored the rude comment and went about her business. Not earth shattering drama, but his disrespectful attitude got me thinking about teaching my daughter good manners. I don't want her just to be able to recite "please" and "thank you" when appropriate, she should develop the heart to really feel appreciative and mean those words.

This seems like a daunting task, raising an empathetic, caring child. There are certainly numerous messages directed at children that promote a more selfish attitude. But if Ryan and I can model such characteristics and surround her with others who do the same, we stand a good chance of hearing those magic words. I didn't mention before that while the little boy was being a stinker, his mom was on a rant of her own. Maybe all kids need is a good example!

My Meme??

So I read that I was tagged by Karen and have no idea what that means! Taking hints from hers, this is my meme (whatever that is).
My daughter is frickin awesome. Nuf said.
I'm having second thoughts about the workout commitment I made to Ryan. He's been bugging me to lift weights with him since we've been married and until yesterday I have refused. This morning we woke up early, pumped some iron, and now my arms are as useful as wet noodles!
I feel torn between being the best wife or best mother. How does one do both?
I love Chinese food. Can't get enough of it.
I am less than thrilled about my post baby body. The baby comes out and the fat stays put. What the heck??
Life is great. Awesome husband, adorable baby, the coolest friends, close family, what's not to love?
I tag Holly....rock on sister.

Update

It has been forever since my last post, so here are a few highlights from the last two weeks....

Rebellion: The Early Months
To your left you'll notice that my darling daughter has decided to give up her full head of hair for a more modern look. While her father and I are slightly taken aback by her sharp veer towards the left at such an early age, we respect her individuality.

Family Visit
Last weekend Ryan's mom, Aunt Heather, Aaron and Jackie came for a short visit. We had a great time shopping and relaxing, and the budding photographer took some amazing pictures of Delaney. Her work can be seen at the top right of the page.


Bathing Beauty
I just couldn't resist posting this picture, she's too stinkin cute!
Like most babies, bath time was quite a chore for Delaney when we first brought her home. She hated being cold and feeling "free." Now it's one of her favorite times of the day, and has been known to laugh hysterically as she splashes.


Trip to Tennessee
Delaney and I traveled to Johnson City, TN to see Holly and meet her daughter, Jael. The cousins are exactly two months apart and almost the same size! Driving 6 hours with a baby is quite an adventure, to say the least. She got hungry while in the mountains in Virginia, which made for a pit stop at a very interesting (and by interesting I mean scary) gas station/antique dealer. The girls seemed interested in each other, however at one point Jael felt her turf was being threatened, so she gave Delaney an earful (see photo).

My apologies for not posting as often as I'd like. Our computer went kaput so it's being worked on and hopefully will be returned to us this week. Hope you all are well!

SLEEP!!!!

SHE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daddy's Girl

It's already started! She likes him better than me! Last night Delaney was super fussy, couldn't be calmed down and none of the usuals (aka food, sleep, diaper change) seemed to be the culprit. Ryan could tell I was nearing the threshold of insanity so he took her to give me a break.
Immediately she stopped crying! The child even started smiling at him. He walked around with her for a few minutes, then gave her back to me. She watched him walk out of the room, stuck her bottom lip out and pouted! Two minitues later, the crying resumed.
What the heck?!? Does Delaney not realize she lived in me for 8 months? Needless to say, I was a little put out. But after my own brief tantrum, it became clear that I should be thanking my lucky stars for a hubby willing to take on a screaming child and a baby who responds so positively to her dad. Besides, all the fussing paid off because......(see post above)

Hello All!

I've been promising it for months, you've all been waiting on the edge of your seats to read it, drum roll please.............I present to you "Being Delaney's Mom!" After all that rigamaroll, there's much pressure not to disappoint!

What follows will hopefully be an exciting (and likely comical) account of my adventures in mommyhood. At the very least, you'll be able to see cute pictures of the punkin. It's my goal to update the blog once a week, but as I'm typing Delaney is starting to fuss, reminding me that all doesn't necessarily go according to plan.

These first few months as a parent have taught me alot about what it truly means to be selfless. I eat last, sleep last, and shower last. Ryan is a huge help, without him I certainly would have lost my mind by now. Saying all the sacrifices are worth it would be the cliche, understatement of the century. Being a mom is the absolute best role ever, and I'm so fortunate to get to raise such an awesome little girl!

At this moment, the aforementioned is demanding her dinner.

No worries, not every post will be sappy mush about Delaney. There's plenty to say about poop, so stay tuned!