Who's a big girl now?

Just thought I'd share a video with you. She's become independent over night (Pretty sure she get's that from her Uncle Evan!) and can feed herself. She loves the Gerber Graduates puffs. Since she doesn't care for (or shall I say HATES) rice cereal it's one of the few ways I can get any whole grain in her. And, since you all know I'm a health nut this baby can't go w/o her whole grains! Yes, my nose is growing as I type this.

And...it's 2 1/2 minutes and kinda boring. But, neat to see how far she's come in 7 months!

7 months

I can NOT believe Paelyn is already 7 months old. 7 months has never gone by so fast in my life! Dj and I were talking the other day how before we know it she'll be starting kindergarten, graduating highschool, and getting married. But, I suppose before we think that far in the future we'd better work on crawling first!

Every girl needs a pink tree!

Today after church DJ and I went to Wal-Mart to get Paelyn a 3 ft. pink Christmas tree with pink (and green) ornaments! It looks adorable in her room.

A playmate for Paelyn and Goldberg

No, I'm not pregnant so calm down. After the loss of our mastiff a few weeks ago we have been going back and forth as to whether or not to get a new dog. We had decided to wait until Paelyn was old enough to pick out a puppy herself- after all we were in no hurry for another dog- let alone have a baby and a puppy. Until...our other dog, Goldberg, started causing some trouble- he is missing Annie- as are we. But, we don't deal with our heartache by chewing through spindles on the deck, crying all hours of the day, howling at night, and barking obniouxsly- but Goldberg does. We decided that since he was having such a hard time that we would get him a new friend. So, we were then forced to decide what type of dog we wanted. We have always wanted a great dane but thought that may be a little too much for us. We spend a few days researching dog breeds trying to decide what dog was best for us and our lifestyle. We had it narrowed down to a cocker spaniel and a great dane and eventually settled on a great dane. After all- we have wanted one for years- why not get what we want?! Great Danes are very loving, affectionate, and great with children. Yes, they are LARGE animals but they are very good dogs.


So, we set out to find a Great Dane to adopt- but we quickly changed our mind. We didn't want to adopt a grown dog for several reasons- first, danes don't live much over 10 years- if we adopted an older dog we wouldn't have it for very long; second, we wanted the dane to grow up with Paelyn b/c after all she isn't going anywhere and since their such large dogs the last thing we wanted is for it to not bond w/ her. Sunday night, DJ found a breeder here in town. I contacted her Monday and we went and picked out a puppy last night. So...I introduce to you Paelyn and Goldberg's new playmate....................

We're naming him Diesel and he is a blue merle.

He was born on Dj's birthday- November 23

He weighed 1 lb and 10 5/8 oz

As of Thursday he weighs almost 5 lbs.

He was expensive- lets hope he doesn't run away.

We don't get him until January.

Turkey Day

We've been crazy busy for the past month. We've been to KC 2 or 3 times (I've lost count) and Columbia. I even had 5 days in a row of no work and I felt like I didn't have a break at all. We spend our Thanksgiving at home- just the 3 of us. I spent the ENTIRE day cleaning out closets, drawers, cabinets, and under beds. It was such a great feeling! I got rid of 6 trash bags of clothes, 20 pairs of shoes, and 35 belts...seriously...who owns 35 belts?! (Apparently I do!) Our spare bedroom is now full of things for our next garage sale. It was amazing of all the nic-nacks, clothes, trinkets, etc a person can accumulate over time. Paelyn is only 6 1/2 months old and she's already got junk that we're getting rid of! DJ went through her stuffed animals (YES ladies, he actually does housework...don't know how willing he is but he does it!) and dolls and got rid of an entire sack full. Needless to say that child is good on stuffed animals for a lifetime!

(Just from my closet)

We originally were going to bake a turkey in the oven but, DJ decided to try grilling a turkey. If I actually liked turkey I would have eaten it- it surprisingly wasn't a flop- it turned out quite nice- and smelled wonderful!

And, as promised- here is Paelyn's Thanksgiving dress and matching bow. Her pictures didn't turn out very well- she really wasn't in the mood for pictures. I just paid for her 2 new Christmas bows today- I ordered them from the same lady. I just LOVE her bows! She even put our bow on her website and she has Paelyn's picture on her Facebook too! She's such a great bow model!

Saturday morning DJ and I went to KC with the Washam's to the KU/MU game and caught up with my sister and her boyfriend, Andy, while we were there. My sister is currently attending MU and is majoring in education (at least someone aspires to be like me!) If I actually understood what was going on I would have thought it was a really good game! However, I did enjoy tailgating, sporting my Mizzou gear, and spending time w/ our friends. I had a really hard time keeping track of where the football was on the field and couldn't understand why the guy w/ the ball seemed to run right in the middle of the pack of other guys. It wasn't until the last 4 minutes of the game that even ME could understand that it was crunch time for the Tigers and the game was getting really intense! I actually stood up and cheered (for the correct team [aka: MU]) We had a really nice time but we were anxious to get home and pick up Paelyn. She had so much fun with Kim & Tim I doubt she even knew we were gone! Here are a few pictures that Kim took. This weekend is our FIRST weekend at home in forever. We are so excited to just relax and not have anywhere to go or any thing to do and we can actually REST! No plans---ahhh...how nice that sounds....just the 3 of us!

Our weekend & DJ's bday

We went to KC over the weekend for DJ's softball tournament. It was a tiresome weekend...the cold didn't help much...I'm pretty sure that Paelyn was the warmest of all of us! Sunday we took our time coming home- mainly because I was TRYING to stick around for the Sugu that my Uncle Ronnie was cooking to be done...but eventually I could wait any longer and just wanted to be home. Although, DJ did say on the way home we could have waited...and I was tempted to turn around. I'd do pretty much anything for my Uncle Ronnie's Sugu. MMMM.....

She slept in this chair for 3 hours!

Me being silly with Paelyn's bows- pretty sure she thinks I'm nuts!

Monday was DJ's birthday. I bought him a new softball bag he has wanted for a while. I also bought him some new wine glasses since the 2 I bought him a few years ago managed to both break in the same week.

Believe it or not, this is the ONLY picture I took on DJ's birthday. My digital camera is SHOT and we're buying a new one. I guess Paelyn was tired from all of the partying. Notice her bow...around her neck! Yeah, it's funny till she pukes on them.

Last week after church Tori had praise practice and Brandt wanted to play basketball with DJ so I volunteered to hang out with the boys. Funny how it's gone from "babysitting" to hanging out. Paelyn LOVES the boys and I know the feeling is mutual! They all 4 sat on the couch and played PSP. Too cute!

Tomorrow we have a Thanksgiving dinner at church. I'm pretty excited about it as Paelyn will debuting her highly anticipated Turkey Dress and matching bow! Ohhh--- I'm getting excited! My luck she'll have a blow out or throw up on it- which leads me to think maybe I should dress her when we get to church! Man, I'm really starting to figure this stuff out. Thursday and Friday DJ, Paelyn, and I are hanging out and decorating for Christmas. We're going to pick out a tree, listen to holiday music, and just enjoy our new family- and would you believe me if I told you this was DJ's idea?! Saturday we're leaving for KC...again...Paelyn is staying w/ "Aunt" Kim & "Uncle" Tim (I know...big surprise that Tori and Brandt aren't watching her)while we attend the KU/MU game with the Washam's. I know Kim & Tim are pretty excited about keeping her this weekend. I know we can leave her and she'll be well taken care of. I am thankful for friends who love our daughter as much as we love her!

I ordered 2 Christmas dresses from etsy.com. I am having bows made for them as we speak. In fact, I just finished an email finalizing the colors- I know...technical stuff.

A little of this, a little of that...and a lot about "BOB"

So...what about Bob? Well, "Bob-Bob-Bob-Bob-Bob" seems to be all Paelyn is saying these days (with the occasional "Mamma"...that's right...she said "Mamma" several times actually)- and it's quite funny I might add. I could sit and listen to her say "Bob" all day long. DJ and I think she's trying to say "BRANDT"...and we'll continue to let "Uncle" Brandt think so as well.

The past few weekends and the next few months are VERY full for us. We've been on the road a lot and have several road trips planned in the upcoming weeks- one of them w/o Paelyn...we're going to the Elton John/Billy Joel concert. Over the past weekend, the 3 of us went to my Dad's for my sisters baby shower. Baby Karson D'Wayne will be making his appearance December 16th. After the shower, DJ and I went to see a movie while my sister, my parents, my niece, all of my aunts, uncles, many cousins, and a entire pile of stuffed animals entertained Paelyn. I'm pretty sure she didn't even know we were gone. When we came back and she was laughing and didn't have much interest in DJ or myself. I have NEVER seen her so excited and laugh so much. It was precious- she had SO much fun!

Last week Paelyn turned 6 months old- I didn't have time to post pictures. So, as usual- here is her monthly picture. We didn't go shopping this month- I know, big surprise!!! We did however, spend the evening with Tori and Brandt at church. That night, we let our dog, Goldberg, in for the 2nd time since Paelyn has been born. At first, Paelyn was scared of him (see picture below) and even started crying. After a while both Paelyn and Goldberg were going NUTS...and I mean...NUTS. Goldberg was running around the house like a mad dog (again, see picture) while Paelyn yelled at him. Eventually, Goldberg wanted to play with her. He went to his basket and got his toys and got down on his front paws in front of her- this is what he does when he wants to play.