Sianara 2010 (Viewer Discretion advised,some kissing pictures)

Tyler's fam has some great Christmas traditions and this year we created a new one...going to the BYU basketball game.

As you can see, Eliza loved it!

Jackson Emery ringing the victory bell

We even got a picture of Eliza with Cosmo--such a perfect cheerleader! Go Cougs!

Last year's new tradition was to build, 

"The Christmas Fort" As the following depict, this is a spacious lounge where we play Wii, watch movies and generally chill Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Some of the fam slept inside, but since we had little Eliza, we slept in our bed:)

Here I caught Brennan playing Wii

With his pants down

Brennan's Christmas tree (by the way, if you couldn't tell Brennan is the Christmas tradition enforcer)

Merry Christmas!!!!

And now, we fast forward to New Year's. One of our goals before we move is to rid ourselves of extra junk...even though I love shoes, I decided I could part with a few pairs. I went from this:

to this!

that's like 20 pairs I got rid of...go me:) Right now this is how I store them, since we share a very small closet...

 Tyler has one shelf, I have two

Eliza did so well on our trip to Colorado. She is such a cutie pie, and looks so adorable when sleeping.

Or awake

Or in her carseat as we take pictures

 Or on the plane

When Daddy's holding her

 I tried to find an angle without a line of light across Ty's face, but the airplane sure wasn't cooperating.

Ok, well we love our little girl if you couldn't tell. And we had a blast this break. Here's to a Happy 2011!!!!

December 31 = Last day of 2010 and...

Eliza turning 4 months!

Here's her stats:

10lbs 1oz

22.25"

Yay for buttons:

She loves her bumbo and play mat, she is grabbing for everything and putting it in her mouth

Bath time is Awesome

Starting to put her legs up to start to roll over

3 Naps a day

Look at that Hair! We put the top in a little pig tail over break

Sad day for us:

Stopped taking a binky

Started waking up twice at night

 

As you can see, she's a HAPPY BABY! we are still working on getting the whole bed/nap schedule down...but we dedicated Christmas break to it and we have figured out she likes to sleep from 9pm-2am or 3am, then utnil 6am and then until 9am with a nap at 10am-11am, 2pm, and 5pm. Those are rough estimates-- we are also working on having her put herself to sleep--today was the first day we put her in her crib and walked away for nap time and the first nap she went down without a fuss and the second one she cried for like 10 mins but then went to sleep. Halleluiah. This is great for us because then we won't have to spend forever helping her to fall asleep and then having her wake up and starting all over again. For the record however, she really is a good sleeper and rarely fusses at all unless she's hungry or tired. I've been really frustrated that she stopped taking a binky, even though she never was very good at taking one, so this is big for her to learn to self-soothe to sleep without anything (because I can't be the paci all the time)

Ok, well enough on the baby log...thanks everyone for your input on techniques on helping baby sleep well...



baby ZZZs

So you know how sometimes as a mom you feel pressured to be "perfect?" or at least for everyone to think it? Ok, so maybe it's just me feeling like I will mess Eliza up if I don't get her schedule "just right". Lately I have been struggling with her daytime napping. She is fighting it like crazy, but I know she is tired because she is cranky. When she sleeps well she is happy and playful and I can do whatever while she sits and plays. Tyler can get her to sleep no problem, but everytime I try to rock her, she wants to eat. Help! I was reading Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child and she says that if you catch the timing right then your baby won't cry and will go right to sleep. I have yet to catch that timing. Also, she says babies shouldn't be awake for more than two hours at a time. I have really watched Eliza and noticed that she does start getting tired about 1 1/2hrs after being awake, but everytime I try to help her fall asleep she cries and puts up a fit. I know every baby isn't by the book, but I am feeling so helpless, like we are stuck in this back and forth. Once I finally get her down to nap she only stays alseep for like 30-40 minutes. What are some tricks to getting Eliza down without such a fight?

Surprises

Generic diapers work great! I bought some as a test from Walmart--you know
Parents Choice brand and I was VERRrY skeptical at first. She hasn't had one blow out despite their apparent thinness and low quality. Yay for $0.11 diapers that work:)

3 Months

I had the hardest time getting a shot where her fists weren't in her mouth. At about 9 1/2lbs my baby is still a wee little thing. But she's growing and developing like a normal 3 month old! We are working on getting our daytime nap routine down and I am reading up on how to help her be the healthiest sleeper. She has the cutest giggle and loves when I blow on her tummy.

She is super strong

Here she is standing with daddy in her cute little santa outift. We love Christmas in the Rasmussen house and have been counting down since summer! My aunt gave Eliza this cute little outift and she looks like a little elf

She still loves her bath and will blow bubbles

and sit and stare at her feet or hands for the whole time.

Even though she's not a fan of tummy time, she can hold her head up a lot more and I'm so proud of her. I hate doing tummy time because she gets all mad after like 30 seconds, so we really don't do it very often.  I wish I had a good picture, but this is usually what she looks like

can you tell she's mad?

She loves riding in her carseat thank goodness, except when she's hungry, but even then if I sing really loudly she will quiet down and sometimes go back to sleep

I love her big blue eyes--my little angel!

Well that's enough baby talk for now I guess. Love my life as a mommy.

Oh ya, and Tyler finishes his masters in a few short months so we are on the house hunt now! Any recommendations?