February Video Dump

Well...it is that time of the month again.  And no Bethany, not what you are thinking (inside joke). 

It is Lainey's monthly video blog!  We have a lot of videos this time as this was a busy month of visiting the farm, rolling over (which I tried my best to capture on video), a new jumperoo, etc that I had the video camera rolling the whole month or so it felt like.   Some are long, some are short, but either way I hope you enjoy!

Singing with Bah Bah on the farm

 

I found my toes!

Future Turkey Caller

 

Loving my new jumperoo! 

Tummy time = Fun time!

Smiley girl!

 Having fun with Papa Allen!

The End!

-Manda

Phat Tuesday

In honor of Phat Tuesday, I was craving some cajun/creole food all day today!  So I searched high and low and found a great Jambalaya recipe.  (You have to love All Recipes!)  It was delish and we topped it off with honey cornbread!  The best part of the night:  Brandon ate off of the purple Fiestaware plate and bowl.  BRANDON ATE OFF THE PURPLE FIESTAWARE!  I want to shout it out to the world b/c in the 4.5 years that we have been married, he has never eaten off of the purple plates or bowls.  He is obnoxious about it at times even going as far as hand washing a dirty non-purple plate in order to avoid using a clean purple plate. The real reason:  Brandon hates the Missouri Tigers and it was his way of saying "Go Wildcats!" for tonights big game.  I will take what I can get.  Here is the picture to document this momentous occaision:

He said that I was pushing it when I asked him to go put on a KSU t-shirt.   haha

Recipe for Jambalya (I would give it 4.5/5 stars!)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/jambalaya/detail.aspx
Some alterations to the recipe:
- I added some shrimp at the end
- Did not have file powder (thickener) and it doesn't need a thickener in my opinion
- Added another can of tomatoes + juice

Venturing Out and About

I feel so lucky and blessed that I have found some mama's up here in Minnesota.  They have been so helpful with advice regarding anything baby!  One thing every single one of the mentioned is taking an ECFE Class.  These classes are associated with the school districts out here and offer classes from newborns to preschoolers to facilitate early childhood education.  Lainey and I enrolled in a class two weeks ago in which we meet every week for 1 1/2 hours and it is a playgroup session for her, while all the mama's get to express their joys and concerns about parenting/motherhood.  They provide a teacher who is a facilitator for topic discussions such as sleeping, eating, development, etc.  I so look forward to these classes every week as it gets me out of the house, I have met 9 other new moms going through the exact thing, and Lainey loves the socialization. (she even has a new boyfriend!)  hee hee

We also ventured out to Amma Parenting today with one of our new friends from ECFE class and attended a storytime and playgroup as well.  This storytime was amazing and Lainey loved every minute of it!  I have never seen a 4 month old so enthralled! The look of amazement on her face when she heard a violin (this teacher was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G) was priceless!  I think that we may have been a little bit "overstimulated" by the end, but she did so good!  She loves music of anykind whether if it is me singing to her offtune or listening to her lullabies so when we had this fantastic teacher sing/play instruments/read she had the biggest smile on her face for 30 minutes! 

New updates for this week:  Lainey has a new toy and she LOVES it!  She bounces up and down the entire 20 minutes we let her go in it.  Here is a video that you can watch for yourself! 

We have had our first health issue this week as well.  She has been waking up multiple times throughout the night and crying/screaming out as if she is in pain.  She has always woken up many times throughout the night in the past months, but the crying was def new.  She also started spitting up 10x more and almost projectile spitting up.  The MD said that it could be due to the fact that she is sitting up more and verticle (bumbo, exosaucer) vs. laying down on her stomach and playing and that it is applying more pressure on her abdomen/esophagus and causing more acid reflux.  So we tipped up her bed, I am trying to avoid dairy, and we started her on Zantac for a two week trial to see if this will do the trick.  Will keep everyone updated! 

Here are some pictures from this week! 

Wide eyed little owl enjoying tummy time!

Our super sweet and super pink Valentine! 

I LOVE my new bouncer!

Does my profile look like my dad or my mom?

I started out here....

And ended up clear out here...with only one sock!  Rolly Polly!  She hasn't quite rolled over yet but will use her legs to push up against things to wiggle her way out! 

The Big Game

Today is one of three days out of the year where things get a little tense in our household.  There is an edge in the air at the Hurley-Walker house and we have a lot of cold, hard staring contests across the dinner table that could make Frank Martin seem like a nice little kitty cat.  That's right...KU and K-State are playing some basketball tonight.

This has been a premise of B and I's relationship even before we were a couple.  He used to make fun of me in pharmacy lab saying such things about going to "Silo Tech" and how KU was going to dominate Allen Fieldhouse West for the 90th time...blah blah blah.  I would usually come up with something along the lines that Coach Bill Snyder holds a coaching clinic every other year in Lawrence (thanks LP) and that they looked good against the Little Sisters of the Blind.   Even at our wedding, we had a divided wedding party providing friendly "bantering" all day long.


Instead of putting aside our differences and watching the games hand-in-hand, we have now included our precious little 4 month old into this battle.  Here is a look into our conversations during these days:  "Sorry A, I asked Lainey what shirt she wanted to wear and she picked this nice crimson and blue one."  "Oh darn it...she only has purple/silver headbands so I guess she will have to wear this KSU purple onesie today."  We have also started included her into our gambling addiction.  For instance, since KU won the first meeting of the season (by luck) Lainey HAD to wear crimson and blue all day today and I had to post a picture on my facebook since I lost the bet. 


So who would you vote for?  This is really a trick question, because when you are this cute it doesn't matter what colors you wear.  But seriously...who would you vote for?  Brandon and I have wages going.  10-1 odds for KSU.  :o) 

The Jayhawk outfit I HAD to wear all day after mommy lost her bet to daddy. 

Isn't purple my color?  I think so too! 

This is a better place for the Jayhawk!

At least we are on the same side when it comes to that place called Misery (Mizzou)!

Go Cats!

-Manda

4 Months Old

I can't believe that this little girl is 4 months old already!  Happy Birthday Laineybug!   She is such a happy baby and so smiley. 

Here is a 4 month recap:
Weight: 14lbs 11oz  Height: 25 1/2 inches

Likes:  Bathtime, Watching Nellie, Watching Nellie chew her toys, Watching Nellie get a timeout in her kennel for chewing those toys, sucking on her hands, putting her hands together like she is saying her prayers, pulling off her right sock, lifting her legs and toes in the air, screaming/cooing/turkey calling/blowing bubbles, story time before bedtime, singing nursery rhymes, playing on my mat, watching mom blow dry her hair or run the vacuum.

Dislikes:  Tummy Time, Tummy Time, Tummy Time, Did I say Tummy Time?, not being swaddled while sleeping, to sleep more than 4 hours at a time during the night, bottles or pacifiers, and my vibrating chair. 

We have had a busy couple of weeks, hence the non-blogging.  First things first...mom had a GNO (Girls Night Out) with some new MN ladies and they were a blast!  We wined and dined and Lainey and B had a great night of bonding.  We also found a bottle that she took without any screaming or fighting over for an hour!  Yea Dr. Browns!  I guess I just need to leave the house more often!

At the end of January Lainey and I packed up and headed south for a week as we decided to go to my parents farm in Kansas.  We had nothing else better to do in cold Minnesota, I needed some adult socialization, and my family kept giving me the guilt trip about how nice the weather was in KS and how much they missed her... so I said "Road Trip!"

I was nervous for the car ride as it was just Lainey and I in the X5 (that has a questionable transmission) for a 9-10 hour car ride.  It went fantastic and Lainey was such a good companion!  We stopped every 3 hours for some stretch time and snacks and she slept soundly almost the entire time in the car seat.  Score! 

We had a great week and we got to do a lot of things and see a lot of people!  Aunt Bethany came down (not once but two different times) for the week, Mimi Kathy and Great Grandma Shirley made a day trip (8 hours in the car in one day!!), and I met one of my best friends from Pharmacy school for dinner so that she could finally meet Lainey.  We even got a special visit from the Aurand clan one afternoon.  I babysat for all 4 of their kids growing up in H.S. and college and now they are old enough to babysit Lainey.  I just wish they lived closer to MN so that they could return the favor! 

Lainey got A LOT of lovin' from everyone around and I thankfully got to catch up on my sleep as my wonderful mom and dad took the early AM shift every morning.  It was so hard to leave and my parents kept asking if we could stay just one more day.  We decided to head on back earlier this week as we really missed B...but I did cry from my house to Lincoln, NE.  I just hope that there is an opportunity someday that allows us to be closer to our families, especially now that we have a little one! 

Until then...I am going to work on making MN feel like home.  I have been having pity parties since I have been rather lonely in MN and really missing my Utah friends/home/skiing/etc, but it can only get better!  I am just thankful for my time with Lainey and getting to witness all of her milestones each and everyday! (and countdown the hours until the next monthly GNO!)

-Manda