Barefoot is better

Rob & I decided that in our new place, no shoes are allowed. That means, everyone (EVERYONE) can leave their shoes at the door. There are a few reasons for this. First, I know this is super weird I am somewhat concerned about the germs that your shoes pick up. I mean you walk all over the place, parking lots, public bathrooms, restaurants with dirty mops and spilled food, etc. and then you bring the germs back into your house when you wear your shoes in. This is a strange concern, I realize. But I always look at the floors of public places and wonder how many germs and disgust I am gathering. I even went so far as to lysol my shoes after returning from our honeymoon in NYC. I mean the NYC streets, EW! Plus, L will be crawling in no time, so we figure this is one way to keep it cleaner. Now, Rob told me I could even buy a cute sign for the entry way alerting people of our rule. So when I googled it, the first hit was an entire blog about why everyone should take their shoes off at the door. I mean, seriously, an entire blog. Someone has really done their research. Check it out

a CRAZY week

Just a few things that are going on here in the Patterson household:

1. MADDNESS!!! Complete and total choas. And anyone who knows me, knows I do not do well with disorder. The house is falling apart!!!!!! Ok, well not really. It's just that when you have a baby, your husband works 12 hour shifts 4 days in a row, and you are trying to pack up by Friday...your house gets a bit C.R.A.Z.Y. So here you are folks..maybe this will give you a warm fuzzy feeling on this Monday just knowing that your house isn't possibly this messy.

2. Lorelei's 6 month photo shoot. Also makes me nuts! Let me explain, on days that she has pictures, or even in the days leading up, I start freaking out. (Luckily I do not freak out during the session, because we have an oh.so.sweet & patient photographer, Brittany.) "What is this rash on her checks? I hope it goes away by picture day" "Oh no! She scratched her face!" "How can I time it so that she is completely rested, not hungry, but not so full that she is spewing milk during the pictures? (HA!)" Picture days just make me nervous. Oh and then the last minute thought is, "What can I wear that doesn't show post-baby weight?" Which brings me to...

3. 9 months to put it on, 9 months to get it off. That's right people. The ultimate challenge. I have 3 months to get the last lingering pounds (any and more lbs that just might feel like dropping off) off this belly. And, call me crazy, but I am not too concerned with the stretch marks. They are reminders of a very happy pregnancy and proof that I have a beautiful baby to show for them. So, I'll keep em!

4. This week is possibly the busiest we have had in a very long time. Filled with dentist appointments, last minute get togethers with friends, last minute Lubbock errands, photo session, work, selling things on Craigslist to make for lighter packing, a massage (in which we greatly deserve after all this packing), and oh yea-packing up the whole house.

5. Tis time. Time to get rid of the clothes in my closet that I keep because, "oh maybe someday I will wear it again" They are taking up space in the closet and taking up one of my new precious wonder hangers (you know, the super thin ones), in which I had long debates about getting with my BFF Leslie. In which her husband replied, "I can't believe yall are having a conversation about hangers.."

Happy Monday :)

Tutti Frutti

FINALLY!! A fruit that Lorelei will eat without making this face...

We have tried bananas, peaches, and avacados. Since she detested all of those, I pulled out the handy Beaba Babycook yesterday and got to cooking. Cooked up some apples, pears, and plums with *hope* that she would get excited about one of them. This morning, she found pure goodness in..PEARS! YUMMMMYY!!

Dear Little Baby

Dear Lorelei,

Whoa Baby! 6 months old! You haven't been to the doctor for your 6month check up yet, so we don't exactly know how much you weight and how extremely tall you are. But you are just now growing out of the 6 month clothes, and will soon be in 9 month clothes. You have been eating fruits and veggies each day. In the mornings, you have a fruit. So far you have tried avacados, peaches, and bananas. You didn't like any of them. At night you have a veggie. You have tried squash (your favorite), carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, and peas. You like all the veggies, but peas are your least favorite I think. We started a little bit of baby sign language for you and are working on the signs for milk, eat, more, finished, momma, daddy, diaper, grandma (or in your case Mimi and Nana), and Grandpa (grandpa and Gdaddy). Lots more sign language to come! You still wear size 2 diapers, but we are slowly experimenting with cloth diapers so hopefully we will find the perfect cloth diaper soon. You love playing in your pink bath tub and reading bath books and playing with bath finger puppets. Your jumperoo and play mat are still your favorite, but you also enjoy the bumbo seat and swing. Your favorite toys are your whooz-it, Sophie the giraffe, wubba dog paci, and books. Yesterday we got out the Follow Me Fiona toy for the first time. You loved it! The little dog sings and barks and walks on the floor and the idea is that you are suppossed to crawl and follow Fiona. Not so much yet, but I am sure you will follow her around in no time at all. You think your dogs, Maggie and Milo, are hilarious. But mostly Milo. He is so funny to you. (probably because he is funny looking!) You are not yet sitting up, but we try to practice with you daily. You roll over a lot though. At night, you are good for about 12 hours of sleep. That does not mean continuous though. We put you to bed around 7-7:30 and you usually wake up several times before midnight crying...and crying...and crying louder and harder. It can sometimes take hours before you go back to sleep. Last night you were throwing such a fit, you kicked your pajamas off. Just busted right out of the leg snaps! This past month, we celebrated your first Valentines Day. You had a Valentine's party at your school. Your Valentine's cards were so cute. We also visited Dallas twice. Your great Nana passed away on Feb. 28, 2010. It was a very sad day, and we are all still very sad about it, thinking of her often. You got to meet your great Nana in January, when we traveled to Atlanta. She loved you to pieces. Seeing her in January was a highlight of this year for sure. We went to Atlanta for the memorial service in early March and you met lots of family that you hadn't met before, as well as you got to see Nana, Grandpa, Bug, and Aunt Me. In the upcoming month we are MOVING! We are packing up and moving to Prosper, Texas. A little town just north of Frisco, where your Mimi and Gdaddy live. AND your Grandpa and Nana are *hopefully* going to be buying a place in Plano or Frisco soon, so I am sure they will be in town often to visit you. We are sad to leave our first house, our little town of Lubbock, and all the memories we have here. I will never forget bringing you home to this house and your Daddy and I felt perfectly complete for the first time ever. In honor of your first 6 months of life, I have done some reflecting & remembering. It seems like yesterday when you were born...

Remember when the night after you were first born and you were in the nursery at the hospital and your Daddy said to me, "I miss her!"

Remember when you were about to be born and the nurse told us that she could tell that you had hair and were were oh.so.excited. HAIR! YOU HAD HAIR!

Remember when you were first born and we just kept saying how cute you were!

Remember when you had jaundice and you had to stay on the bili-light 18-20 hours a day? You were so tiny and only a few days old. You Daddy was so worried about the time you spent on the light, he created a spreadsheet to keep track of how many hours you were on the light. What a sweet concerned Daddy you have.

Remember when your little clavicle was fractured after birth so they wrapped it up next to your body? And I was so worried about you.

Remember when you wouldn't nurse at the hospital so they would bring you to us in the middle of the night and make us give you formula? But remember when you wouldn't even take the formula so the night nurse had to help us? Remember how she held your tiny little body and told you to "sit up to the table" and asked you if those were good groceries?!

Remember when we first brought you home from the hospital and your Nana and I were in your nursery with you when you spewed projectile spit up all over the place? That was when your Daddy began the 3 hour search for an inclined baby sleep positioner.

Remember when you came home from the hospital for the first time and the dogs (especially Milo) went psycho and we thought we would have to send them away for a few days?! Momma had to call the vet ASAP to get him some medication!

Remember when you would lay on our chests and snooze for hours?

Remember when you had your days and nights mixed up? Everyone said "Keep her up more during the day" and I just about died! If only they knew!

Remember when you would wake up and cry all night long for the first few months? We just didn't know what was wrong or what we should do. Oh how we learn so quickly!

Remember when you took your first trip to Dallas and you were crying in the backseat and I couldn't stand to hear you so sad and not be able to hold you.

Remember when you learned how to pull your bow in front of your eyes and I knew our hairbow days would suddenly be much more difficult?

Remember when you sat in your Bumbo chair for the first time and whined and fussed because your head kept slumping over?

Remember when you discovered the dogs and started looking at them and looking so startled when they barked? And remember when you started thinking they were HILARIOUS!?

Remember when you discovered the t.v. and all you wanted to do was watch it? And I consistently turned your head away from it so you would not be over stimulated by all the colors and noises!

Remember when you were just in my tummy and we had never met you? We barely remember this time, sweet girl. It feels as though we have loved you forever.

Happy 1/2 year sissy! We love you to the moon & back.

Momma & Daddy