Cute Kiddos

Our friends, Jo and Holly So welcomed their adorable son Matthew last Sunday! We are so happy for the new family - how cute is this little guy?!?! (his daddy took some great pictures!)

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We got out Thursday night to see our favorite local blues band, Trampled Under Foot. We brought our baby and my parents brought theirs! While walking around, we ran into Ben (a guy my dad works with) and his beautiful family. This is their youngest - she is SO adorable and gave my parents' puppy lots of lovins!

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We are having so much fun each week playing with Cami, Josh and Jake (and their amazing mamas)!! Some day we will get all the kiddos in a picture together. Here is cutie-patootie Jake with Aliyah.

Looking Forward to More of This:

And this is why Sesame Street will forever be the most awesome kids show ever. (EVER!)

Happy Two Months

Check out this super hero and her Barbie band-aids!

She frowned for the first shot, closed her eyes tight (face turning a bit red) for the second shot, and let out a big ol cry for the third. As soon as the nurse slapped some pink band-aids on those chunky thighs I scooped her up and wiped the tears. that was that. She is such a big girl

She keeps on growing! I know this is the boring stuff...

but for family that read the blog:

weight - 11lbs 15oz (75%)

height - 23 inches (75%)

I did much better than expected - no tears. It did help that my mom (Grammy) was there. I asked her to come and support Aliyah for her first shots, but we all know that I needed her there for me... sometimes it is tough to be a mama.

One More Lake Post

For our first time traveling and spending the night outside of our own home this past weekend, I just wanted to say this:

If you’re scared to travel with your kids, you’re missing out. There will always be an excuse - she’s too young, he’ll get stir crazy on the plane, she starts school in August - and on and on and on.

Just do it. Get in the car or on a train or an airplane and go somewhere. Even if it’s just to the local lake or a night out camping. Don’t let excuses get in the way of having a dang good time with the ones you love most.

Toddlers and Tiaras

By NO means am I trying to join the gang of determined moms on TLC's show of Toddlers and Tiaras, but when my Aunt Terri sent me an email encouraging me to enter a picture of Aliyah in Parents Magazine for the facial expression contest, a picture came to mind...

I followed the link in the email, posted the picture and thought nothing more of it - I wasn't even sure if I had actually posted the picture correctly.

I just got an email from my aunt that said Aliyah's picture has been selected. If you want, you can VOTE HERE every day until August 1st for Aliyah to become this week's winner.

Thanks and Happy Tuesday!!!

Happy Monday

There is a lot to celebrate today!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful mother... Happy Two Months to my beautiful daughter... and today we start cloth diapers - I am both excited and a little nervous - wish us luck!

WEEKEND RECAP: Last weekend we had a GREAT time with the family at my Uncle Randy and Aunt Annie's lake house: Thank you both!

our little bumble bee

Aliyah sporting MY first swimsuit

love you

a life jacket that is both safe and cute

Dad finds a good place to swim

we watch in the shade

relaxing in the shade tent

bright eyes and bubbles

hanging out at the lake is exhausting

Smiles for Miles

Every morning when you are good and awake you treat me to 'The Aliyah Show'. Your performance changes each week as you learn new skills - but lately it’s involved a lot of nuzzling your nose into my shoulder, swinging your arms around furiously and soaking me to my soul with your delicious gummy smile. (smiles on top of smiles!)

We will always be there for this and every other scene in your life. Front and center.

Love (your biggest fan),
Mom

Bare Feet

Bare little feet and green grass compliment one another in just the right way. It’s a partnership that is often overlooked until you see them together, and then it just hits you all at once - A perfect combination: A lovely pair!

Aliyah and Honey (Grandpa & Grammy's sweet puppy)

Laundry

WOW! A baby sure does bring extra loads of laundry. Something is always getting spit-up, drooled, or pooped on. But to be honest, I have to take some of the blame too... it sure is tricky eating while holding a baby - I may have spilled a crumb or two on a mini dress or colorful onesie.

Even though there is a lot of laundry, I am pretty proud of how I've been keeping up with it all. I have stopped waiting for clothes to pile up so that I could do one big load and now have been doing little loads almost every day. This technique has helped so that I don't get overwhelmed by mountains of clean clothes to fold.

I think doing little loads will help as we transition to cloth diapers (next week!) and while I give credit to smaller loads of laundry cushioning the blow of the extra work, it may have something to do with my little helper...

Here's to a Little Mama-Bebe Lovin' on a Sunny Afternoon

"My Child Will Never..."

I think all parents are guilty of uttering this at one point or another. My mom hated the idea of girls being forced to play with dolls... but as these things usually go... I happened to be kind of obsessed with Cabbage Patch Dolls. And so she found herself happily purchasing them year after year (I ended up with 10 of these cute dimpled friends).

Some of my convictions I’ve managed to stick to so far - but I barely have gotten 2 months of real, actual parenting under my belt and despite my promises not to, we’ve already caved:

ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. (banging my head against the table)

Just like every other baby out there, Aliyah has really been wanting new stimulation and fun things to look at to keep her interest. We’ve done pretty good with little wooden toys, soft stuffed animals, and rattles.

When my mom and I picked this up before she was born, I thought that I would use the nature sounds and soft toys, but avoid the blinking lights and crazy songs. We had it set-up downstairs and hadn't used it much. However, when we were at our neighbor's house and Aliyah was placed in their baby's swing with lights & music, she smiled bigger and longer than I had ever seen ... SO... as soon as we got home this was sitting in the middle of our living room.

A loud, plastic-y play gym and a complete eyesore - but as soon as I saw Aliyah laying underneath it - kicking her legs, smiling, and staring at all the toys and lights in wonder - my disgust melted away and before I knew it I was lying on the floor next to her - pointing at the lights, singing along with the tunes and encouraging her to grab the brightly colored toys.

I’m quickly learning that I can still have my ideals but parenthood is about flexibility - about learning on the fly - about being willing to change easily when your reality doesn’t meet your preconceived ideals.

So the eye-sore play gym will remain right in the middle of our living room because it makes my love dove supremely happy - and that trumps everything I will ever put on my “My Child Will Never” list.

Aliyah is 'All In'

Game Night at the Inzer House

Little Booty

I LIKE CUTE BUTTS AND I CANNOT LIE..

love to my homies,

M

The Inzer Family Declaration of Living Outloud

All current and future members of the Inzer Family are hereby instructed to follow these ten rules as often as possible:

1. Run around the house naked if the mood strikes (children only! hahaha)

2. Stay up past bedtime when we are having too much fun together

3. Sing loudly, anytime day or night

4. Enjoy making a good, supervised mess every now and then

5. Read all of our books in funny voices

6. Make a tent and go hide in it when you need some quiet time

7. Take naps outside on a blanket

8. Write love letters to everyone

9. Crawl into bed with mama and daddy in the mornings

10. Tell the truth, be kind to one another and be the first to say I’m sorry

Three Cheers For Happy Chaos!

First Date Out

We had our first date sans bambino last night (My dad and mom were more than happy to babysit... I think Aliyah even got a special visit from her Aunt & Uncle too).

It was perfect - Yesterday morning I won Tom Petty tickets by calling a local radio station for the concert that night. Eight hours later we at the Power and Light District and standing in front of the Sprint Center!

We first ate dinner downtown and it was so tasty!!

Tyler's first time at the Sprint Center

Then listened to a great show by Tom Petty!

It was such a wonderful evening and the very best part was that we had some cute chubby cheeks waiting for us when we came home.

Dress Up

One of two things are going to happen when Aliyah reaches the age where she wants to make her own wardrobe decisions:

1. She’s going to embrace my more is more approach and join me in my big jewelry-giant floppy hat-glamorous shades-fluffy skirt madness

2. She’s going to be a total tomboy with zero interest in getting all dolled up

So in the meantime, I’m enjoying fancing her up while I’ve still got a say in the matter!

Now and Then

Even though the colors are a bit faded and the elastic in the sleeves is no longer tight around chubby arms - this dress is special to us lasting through two baby girls 27.5 years apart:

Aliyah with her Grammy

Marcie with her mama

Aliyah with her Grandpa

Marcie with her daddy

World Champion Napping Team

It’s pouring rain outside today so no neighborhood strolls for us. Instead, we’re cooking pancakes and wearing our pajamas all day long.

Six Weeks

Take a good look at this photo. This will be my last strawberry milkshake for awhile. (sigh)

I’ve decided it’s time to get a little more serious about the 12 pounds I still need to lose (plus the 5lbs I would like to take off just for good measure). I lost 20 pounds of my baby weight right after Aliyah was born, but the rest has been hanging on a little longer than I had hoped and I’m really ready to have this waistline again.

As I’ve stated before - I’ve cut myself some slack - afterall, I did just grow a human being. But she’s now 6 weeks old and I’ve got a closet full of clothes that either don’t fit at all or don’t fit like they used to.

I’m giving myself until my birthday (end of September) to lose at least 15 pounds. I’m cutting down on the sweets, unneccesary snacking (a bad habit of mine) and doing an hour of physical activity everyday. Tyler is my designated motivator and has been instructed to make sure I get my butt moving every single day, no matter what excuse I try to use. We’re going to mix things up with some walking, cardio, band work and yoga. My mom is great about eating live healthy foods so I am hoping that will rub off on me a little too!

Stay tuned as I embark on the first diet/work-out regiment I’ve ever been on. (This should be interesting) Pre-baby body here I come!

7 Things No One Ever Told Me About Pregnancy and Motherhood

POST BABY...

1. Even though they are very small, babies can fart as loudly as a full grown man. For some reason I thought that maybe the noise one makes when passing gas would be relative to size. I was grossly misinformed

2. You know how when you’re hugely pregnant and the baby is taking up so much room that all of your organs are squished up in your chest cavity? Well after the baby is born your organs starting moving back down to the regular positioning - AND YOU CAN FEEL THEM shifting back down

3. At your first post-baby checkup you and your OB will probably have wildly varying definitions of the phrase “Everything is back to normal”

4. In the beginning, when your boobs are trying to figure out what the heck is going on, they sometimes can spray milk out like someone stuck a pin in a water balloon. I think it’s their way of protesting their new predicament.

5. There is absolutely no way to gracefully get a car seat in and out of the car - especially if you have it installed in the middle of the backseat.

6. Becoming a mother is like learning to live life with only one arm. I eat with one arm, type with arm, go about most of my daily life with one arm. My other arm belongs completely to Aliyah, as she is always needing to be held, fed, bounced, or entertained.

7. The world is a happier place when you have a baby in toe... (not-to-mention the happiness filled within our own home) People smile at you, open doors for you or some even stop to talk about this new little person or to share stories of their own.

So there you go. a little shared knowledge. There was never a chapter on any of these subjects in my baby books so I wanted to pass it on.

I could only come up with 7 instead of my typical list of 10... do you have a lesson to add to this list?

The Truth About Dogs and Babies

I have been asked how our dogs have adjusted to the baby... this has been a topic of anxiety for me as our youngest (and largest) furbaby, Zeus is NOT kid friendly (he likes to play and chase kiddos but usually gets so excited he has occasionally nipped in mid play).

I had many long heart to heart conversations with him before Aliyah was born - pleading with him to accept her as part of our pack. To help us prepare, Tyler and I read a few articles online - the main take away for us was that it’s important to ensure that our dogs never had a negative connotation to Aliyah. This meant allowing them to explore her nursery, smell her and be close to her when she was brand new, and most importantly - continue to include them as part of all family activities after she arrived. Of course, allowing them to be that close also meant being very diligent about protecting her and teaching the dogs boundaries around her personal space - and we learned that no dog, no matter how trustworthy, should be left alone with an infant.

Nova was never a worry for us. She loves everyone and has never once in her entire life displayed signs of aggression towards people. Our biggest challenge with her has been getting her to recognize that the baby actually exists. She likes to pretend like she isn’t there and that all of the soft blankets and little beds we were making were actually for her and not a new baby. A few times when Aliyah was sleeping next to me, Nova would come up and almost step on the baby (if not for my hand shielding her) in order to get close to me. Every time we scooped Aliyah up off a blanket - Nova would try to get in it. Teaching Nova that she can lay next to, but not IN the baby’s space has been our biggest challenge (and one we’re still working on).

As for Zeus, he’s exceeded my expectations so far. He was incredibly nervous around Ali J for the first two days she was home and would whine and bark in a nervous way whenever the baby would cry. We encouraged him to look at her and sniff her and would always praise him when he did so. Since then, he has shown concern for her several times when she has cried. I probably will never fully trust him based on his past history but I am encouraged by his current temperament around her. I still worry that this arrangement might change when she becomes mobile and “grabby” but we’re going to take it a day at a time.

I love my dogs to my core. Pets can enrich the lives of a child in so many ways. The ONLY thing that would make me give up either of my dogs would be an aggression towards Aliyah. I am just not willing to take that risk. I’ve let the dogs lick the top of Aliyah's head and there are many afternoons where all five of us have been snuggled in our room together. And yes, I’ll even admit to pulling a dog hair out of her mouth once or twice (ewww… there goes my mother of the year award).

Having our child and dogs co-habitate peacefully has not been a perfect science. We are learning as we go… but we continue to teach all three of them how to respect boundaries and we are hopeful that we will remain a happy little pack for many years to come.

** Wondering about the cat? She really loves people and is doing great with the baby continuing to share that love with Aliyah.

Fourth of July

Sunday was your first Fourth of July. Just like the innate need to nurture and protect you, there is a deep desire inside of us to make your holidays magical. Even though you will not remember this day, I will tell you that it was a special one for your father and me. I picked out a pretty dress for you to wear, we visited with family and friends all weekend. You slept through a lot. We took pictures...
We brought you home and propped you up for some more pictures...

Your father and I stood back and admired our sweet little girl in her red, white and blue. You smiled at us over and over and I was hoping that your little upturned mouth meant that just maybe we had succeeded in our mission. A magical Fourth of July - The very first of our many attempts to make your childhood as special as possible.