Post Christmas Update

On Monday Grandma Liz, Barry and Jane took Amy to have her photo taken with Santa at La Cantera Mall. Santa was a really genuine Santa with his own beard and Amy was very good sitting with him for the photo.

Well, Amy's first Christmas has come and gone. Santa visited and left her lots of presents. Much to Grandma Liz's disappointment Amy slept in until 6:45am (G'Ma had been waiting since 4:30am). Once she was up though we got straight into opening presents. Opening all of her toys and presents wore her out as she was asleep for Christmas lunch. The adults had Honey Baked Ham and Turkey, green bean parcels (with bacon), potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli/cheese casserole, stuffed peppers and fresh dinner rolls. This was all topped off with an ice-cream cake (Caramel Nut Nirvana).

Jane had to work on Wednesday (Boxing Day) because it is not a holiday here the US. Thursday Jane got off work early and we all went to Fredericksburg and had dinner at The Brewery. It was good - the beer too. Then on Saturday, Grandma Liz, Barry, Amy and Jane went to San Marcos to the Prime Outlet Mall and shopped. Amy got her first pair shoes - sneakers that light up as she walks. We also bought her clothes of course and Jane bought some homeware things at Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn.

Sunday is Grandma Liz and Barry's last full day here in San Antonio and instead of going to the usual HEB we all went to HEB Plus! It was awesome, so much variety and Jane can buy Indian food items there (as well as some groceries from the UK). Amy of course got something.................a new pink Jeep umbrella stroller. We're all going for dinner tonight to the Macaroni Grill and then tomorrow it's off to the airport :-( Not sure that everything will fit in their bags (especially Amy). Will post again next Sunday - love to hear from you all.

Amy's first words

Another busy week for us as we get ready for Christmas. Jerad was quite busy during the week with various loads to Laredo. Jane was busy at work (especially trying to take care of things ready for a few days off). Mum and Barry had another fun week looking after Amy and the dogs. Saturday morning we all went to "The Little Gym" where Amy had her first class. It was a lot of fun with Jerad and I being involved in the class too. Amy did some somersaults, stood holding onto the parallel bars, bounced and played "wheelbarrow". It was a fun class and she enjoyed interacting with the other babies. We have enrolled her in the Winter/Spring Semester that starts at the end of January.

Mum, Barry and I went out this morning to grab a few last minute groceries and we bought an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery to have for dessert on Christmas Day (Caramel Nut Nirvana). Traynor stopped in today as he has another load going to SC. Traynor and I went to the movies to see "I am Legend" while Jerad went to the bar for a drink - Mum and Barry stayed home and went for a walk with Amy. Today was very exciting............Amy actually said "ba ba ba"! It was very unexpected as we were sitting at the dinner table. I was starting to get worried that she wasn't going to talk, but our little girl is finally making her first word sounds.

Well I have the video camera all ready for Christmas morning so I just then need to work out how to download the video onto here. I'm sure I'll work it out :-)

Getting ready for Amy's 1st Christmas

Well I have been slack over the past few weeks and haven't updated the blog. I guess it's because we are busy getting ready for Christmas. Our little girl is now 10 months old and is growing and changing every day. Since Grandma Liz and Barry have been here she gets spoilt (rotten). She goes for walks each day and plays, eats what she wants (whenever she wants).........you get the idea. Last week Grandpa Traynor came to visit and stayed the night. We all went to El Chapparal for dinner and Amy even had a dance with Grandpa Traynor! Amy has enjoyed looking at all the Christmas lights on all the house around Wildhorse (Although I think Grandma Liz enjoys it more).

Since her last Dr visit, Amy has had her blood test done and all is well - no need for iron supplements. She still isn't talking (making consonant sounds) but is certainly babbling more each day. She is also standing up holding on to things well, she also claps her hands and laughs a lot more now. She is starting at "The Little Gym" this Saturday so that should be fun! We are going to enroll her in the Winter/Spring semester in the "Bird" group where she will go to gym each Saturday morning. A good way to interact with other little babies and hopefully learn a few things.

I probably won't post again until Christmas when I will hopefully have some video footage to share on here and definitely photos.

Thanksgiving '07

It's been a busy time over the past week or so. Last Tuesday I went to the airport to pick up Mum and Barry. They arrived safely after a long flight and lay-over in LAX.

Wednesday was Amy's 9 month Dr appointment and she now weighs 17lb and is 28" tall. She was not at all impressed with the 3 vaccinations she had! Dr Gibbons was a little concerned that she is not yet saying "Da da da" or "Ba ba ba" but said we should wait until the New Year and hopefully she'll be making her first sounds by then. Amy also needs to have a blood test just to check her iron levels - again nothing serious just needs to be checked at her age.

Then of course on Thursday it was Thanksgiving, so we were cooking all day and had our fill of turkey, sweet potato, green beans, corn bread etc. Amy was asleep during the meal but was able to enjoy some Thanksgiving leftovers later that evening. The next day Amy, Mum, Barry and I were all up bright and early for a full day of shopping on Black Friday. We got a great deal on a videa camera at Best Buy and then picked up most of Amy's Christmas presents at Toy'R'Us. We also shopped at Yankee Candle, JC Penney, Babies'R'Us, Gap and more. Mum and Barry bought Amy a new car seat and she seems to really like it .

Saturday and Sunday saw more shopping and showing Mum and Barry around San Antonio. Barry especially liked Costco!! Jerad put up all the Christmas decorations for us and the house now looks so pretty inside with the tree and lights and all. We are getting excited about Christmas and have started the countdown.

Preparing for the Holidays

It was another busy week for us working and also preparing for Grandma Liz and Barry's arrival. Jerad helped me finish decorating the guest bathroom and I am so pleased with how it turned out. The next room on the list to paint and pretty up is the master bedroom - still deciding on a color scheme though, so probably a few weeks away yet.

Our little girl finally got back to "normal" and we didn't have to take her to the doctors. Although she is due for her 9 month well visit on Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how much she weighs now and how much she has grown. I can't believe she is 9 months old already!

Not much planned for this weekend other than grocery shopping and buying all the food we need for Thanksgiving. Looking forward to next week as it will be a short week at work with Wed-Fri off. And yes...............we are planning on being part of the crazy crowd on Friday to start our Christmas shopping and get all the bargains. I'll be looking to buy a video camera first and foremost. I can't wait to start videotaping our little girl for her first Christmas.

What we did and did not do this week........

Jerad was busy at work this week with quite a few loads to deliver out of town. He seemed to really like the drive out to Bandera and recommended we go out there for a day some time. He said how pretty the drive was and it is a real neat little town too. Well I finally went and bought new paint to re-paint the downstairs bathroom. Earlier in the year I had painted it a light shade of blue to match the shower curtain we had - but after looking at it for a while decided I didn't like it. So in preparation for Mum (Grandma Liz) and Barry arriving in 2 weeks Amy and I went to Sherwin Williams on Sunday so we can re-paint and we bought a new shower curtain and other bathroom accessories. Jerad was a big help doing the prep work and taping (which was great because that's the only bit I hate doing).

As for what we didn't do this week - which is a first for Amy.......poop. Our poor little girl is a little constipated so we are trying prunes etc to see if that does the trick. If there is no progress by tomorrow morning she'll be off to Dr Gibbons. She doesn't seem to be in any pain but it is not normal for her to go this long.

Halloween 2007

As usual I was all excited that it was Halloween time and trick or treaters would be knocking on our door. Even more exciting was that I could dress Amy in her cute little fairy costume! Well I of course had way more candy than I needed and our poor little girl was getting tired and ready for bed by the time the first trick or treaters arrived. Although she did get to greet 1 or 2 of them. Before we know it we'll be celebrating her first Thanksgiving and Christmas.