Pictures, Pictures and More Pictures

These pictures sum up all of the pictures taken in the last few months.

We dyed Easter eggs on Monday night. I didn't really intent on dying eggs twice, but I bought the kit on Sunday when Emery was with me and she just couldn't contain herself. First, we have a shot of her hands nearing the end of the process. Emery really didn't like her hands being dirty and whenever she would stop focusing on dying the eggs, she would try to clean them as best as she could.

The dying kit also came with stickers. Of course, anything you leave in front of Paisley ends up in her hands. She was amazed at the stickers sticking to her little fingers ..

Grandma Phyllis and Paisley having fun with stickers
Papa showing Emery how it's done
Isn't Paisley so stinkin' cute??
Emery went through a stage for a few nights where she wanted to sleep on her floor. I wasn't about to argue with the 3 yr old, so I let her do it. She moved all of her animals (notice the increase in animals she sleeps with nightly?) from her bed to her floor and slept on the floor for 3 night until Ivan put a stop to it. I caught her bright and early one morning and snapped a picture.

Emery loves to cook and bake. We made cookies together one night for my work ..

Paisley has enough hair for pig-tails already. Emery didn't get her first set of pig-tails until she was 9 months old. Paisley has a ton of hair!
My girls hanging out in my bed watching Max & Ruby before bed
I took Emery to Disney on Ice a while back. It was a Mommy/Daughter date and we had a great time. I could have done without the Disney on Ice, but Emery had a blast. Her favorite parts were Cinderella and when Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story came out on the ice.
Ivan and his girls ..

Ridin' Dirty!

I've added a new song to my playlist to honor Emery's new favorite song. What is her new favorite song, you might ask? Ridin' Dirty by Chamillionaire. I'm not sure that there could be a more inappropriate song that she could have picked, but this is it. She first heard it with Ivan and her first response was, "Papa, I can't understand the words". Apparently, by listening to the song more, and louder each time, she now understands the words. In fact, she has the entire song memorized - word for word. Nice!

Teething Solutions

One night last week, Paisley was in pain due to teething. Ivan was on baby duty and trying to find ways to soothe her. He is one of the most creative people I know and will always find ways to make the girls laugh or feel better when they are sick or in pain.

So, Ivan went to the freezer and got an Otter Pop. He cut around the edges just enough to cut away the sharp edges and let Paisley chew on it to numb her gums. Instantly, she was happy, gnawing away at the Otter Pop even though it wasn't opened. Then, a minute later, we heard slurping sounds. The little stinker had gotten the Otter Pop opened and was sucking the juice out - no wonder she was so happy! I took the Otter Pop away (if I wasn't home, the 7 month old would have likely had her first Otter Pop) and Paisley freaked out. She was so mad - grunting and crying. I brought her another Otter Pop, unopened, and gave it to her. She knew the difference and wanted nothing to do with it. So, we were back to square one with a fussy baby and pulled out the baby Tylenol.

Emery and Paisley

Here are pictures of both Emery and Paisley at 5 months old. I think they look alike and Ivan does not. I'm not sure that I see either myself or Ivan in the girls. What do you think?

Emery's Favorites

Every night after bath time, I have to get creative. It can be a battle getting Emery to sit still long enough to get her dressed and her hair brushed after the bath. Tonight, I started to quiz Emery and I thought it'd be a good idea to document her answers.

Who is your best friend? Paisely (then Papa, Mama and Carter boy)
What is your favorite color? blue and the colors in the rainbow in the sky
What is your favorite food? turkey, ham and cheese
What is your favorite drink? milk, orange juice, apple juice and water
Where is your favorite place to go? the zoo
What is your favorite toy? iXL
What is your favorite cartoon? Dora the Explorer
What is your favorite movie? 101 Dalmations

Paisley Tries Rice Cereal...

At Paisley's 4 month check up, Dr. Ring gave us the green light to try solids. As usual, I was a little apprehensive but decided to try giving Paisely rice cereal a few days ago. I've given it to her a couple of times and while she gets excited and kicks her feet a lot, I don't think she's actually swallowing much of it. I think I will go to some fruits in the next couple of weeks and see if it sparks Paisley's interest a little more with some actual flavor.
And because Emery is my little "mini me", she wants in on the action. She helped me feed Paisely for a little bit. When Emery eats, she is a neat freak (I have no idea where she gets it from) and freaks out if she thinks she might have a little bit of food on her lip or face. So, when she was helping me feed Paisley, if a little bit of food got on Paisley's face (which it was everywhere) Emery would quickly grab the burp cloth and clean her up. At least I know Emery will help me keep Paisely clean whenever I need it.

Paisley's 4 Month Update

Here I am again, trying to catch up. Here is Paisley's 4 month update (3 and a 1/2 weeks late).

Height: 25 1/4 inches - 75th percentile
Weight: 15.4 lbs - 75th percentile
Eating: taking in about 30 oz of formula/day - 6 oz bottles every 3-4 hours
Sleeping: Still sleeping great. She's started to go to bed around 7:30p nightly which makes me sad. When I work my evening shifts, I don't get to see her after I get home from work and I miss her. But, I'm still grateful that she's sleeping through the night and such a good sleeper in general. It still seems like Paisely sleeps most of the day away. She's usually up for 2 hours max before she's ready for a nap again.
Temperament: Still the best little baby ever. Paisley is starting to be very vocal and I absolutely love it! She grunts and squeals and you can tell that she's surprising herself at the noises she makes. She's recently discovered her feet and she loves them. It's amazing how flexible she is.

And, just because I think this is adorable. This is an awesome blanket that Grandma Karen made for Paisely. It's the blanket we use every single day for tummy time and just hanging out. Well, as usual, Carter was feeling left out and just had to take advantage of the blanket as well.

Paisley's 4 Month Pics

I am so in love with this little girl. Here are the most recent professional pictures of Paisely. I will do a 4 month update post soon, but I don't dare post pictures that I took along with these ones. :)

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one!

My friend Amanda took the pictures.
You can see more of her work or contact her at:
loulouphotography.com

What Happens at 3:15a in our Home...

I woke up this morning at 3:15a to Emery crying across the house in her room. I jump out of bed and run to her room thinking she fell out of bed or is somehow hurt. I run in and see her standing next to her bed and ask her what's wrong.

The answer, "I can't find my other slipper".

Really? First off, why the heck was she up at 3:15a and secondly, crying over a lost slipper? My goodness! Emery is obsessed with her little Tinkerbell slippers and wears them 100% of the time when she is at home, including to bed. Apparently while sleeping, she lost one of them and couldn't find it. It was a big enough emergency to cry and scream at the top of her lungs at 3:15a. I think we are in for a rough time once she hits her teen age years.

What's New at the Gallegos Home

Between the girls, work, dance class, Ivan being in school and trying to actually do a few fun activities on the weekends, I have totally been neglecting the blog. So once again, here is a mega-post update. As long as I keep taking pictures and eventually post them, I'm happy.

Emery and Paisley in the crib. Paisley loves this little toy that plays music and she can kick it with her feet. She can sit in her crib for 15-20 mins and be completely happy with it. Of course, 90% of the time Emery is right there in the crib with Paisley playing with her so that helps.

Emery is obsessed with toe jam. Every single time you take her socks off, she has to stop and look for toe jam. Sick, I know. Well, she's also obsessed with Paisley's toe jam. As soon as I take Paisely's socks off, Emery is right there waiting to pick Paisley's toe jam. Paisley just tolerates it.
This is the time out stool. Obviously, time out wasn't too effective this time since Emery was sitting upside down for the 3 minutes.
We squeezed in a play date with Grandma Phyllis and Quinlan ..
Grandma Phyllis and the girls
Paisley is getting much better at tummy time and can hold her head up so good ...
Paisley was hanging out playing with her toys while I was getting ready and Ivan was making breakfast. She started to fuss and was ready for a nap. Apparently, we didn't get her to bed quick enough so she just went to sleep as she was.
Last Saturday we went to the Kids Fair at the South Towne Expo Center. I thought it would be completely different that what it actually was. Emery had a good time, but we won't be going back next year and I would not recommend it to anyone. Well, unless you want to spend your day looking at and buying a bunch of crap that you don't really need.

Emery was so excited to get her face painted. Ever since Halloween, she's been obsessed with scary witches. She told the lady painting her face that she wanted a scary witch. The lady said she couldn't do a scary face on such a cute little girl so she compromised. Emery loved it!
The family ...
Ivan and Paisley nerding out and watching a basketball game. Paisely loves watching sports on TV already.
So stinking cute!

No Stamp for You

Emery has been in dance class for about 6 months now. When she first started, she wouldn't let me out of the dance room and was just attached to my hip. My whole reasoning for enrolling Emery in dance classes wasn't so she could learn to dance - it was to get her interacting with other kids and adults.

After I had Paisley, I decided to make a change. I called before class started to talk to the receptionist, Erika. I described myself as "Emery's Mom, Summer. You know, the one that has to sit in the dance room the entire class". She then knew who I was talking about. I told Erika that I wanted Emery to go into the dance room herself and Erika assured me that she would help Emery one on one until she got comfortable. Well, 15 minutes into the class, Emery was fine and participating in class. If only I had made the change sooner - oh well, that's the first time Mom in me right?

Anyway, at the end of every dance class, the teacher, Miss Amber, gives the girls a stamp on their hand. At one time or another, all of us Mom's have bribed out kids to go to dance class with the stamp. The stamp is a big deal.

During class yesterday, I looked into the room through the window and saw all 4 girls running in circles. I asked another Mom, "should they be running in circles? Is that what Amber has them doing?" The answer was no. The kids were being extra naughty.

Well, when class ended, the girls usually come out all excited to show off their stamps. Not this week. Every girl came out sad and with a pouty lip. No stamps! Amber decided that the girls were so naughty that they didn't get stamps. I guess there is a first for everything. I made Emery go in and apologize to Miss Amber for not behaving and we left. It's now been 24 hours since Emery missed out on the stamp and she's still sad about it. I bet she will behave during dance class next week.

Paisley's Accomplishments

Paisley learned how to smack her lips today. It's like she's trying to kiss you and she smacks her lips. Too cute! We can add that to her list of things she knows how to do. It's a short list of:

• making bubbles
• slobbering
• chewing on her fingers (index and middle finger on the left hand are her favorites)
• grunting when you know she wants to laugh but can't quite laugh yet
• giving angry looks to people when they make her mad
• moving her head in whatever direction is needed so she can watch Emery
• make the biggest smile that lights up the whole room
  

There's a Strange Sound in my Room

I was getting ready in my bathroom this morning when I heard the pitter patter of Emery's feet on the kitchen floor. I could tell she was running which was unusual for her when she first wakes up. She comes in to the bathroom and this is what she says:

Emery: "Mama, I heard a strange sound in my room" (with her hand on her hip by the way)
Me: "you heard what?" (I had never heard her use the term "strange sound" before)
Emery: "I heard a strange sound in my room, it was coming from my closet"
Me: "oh, okay"
Emery: "Mama, there was a strange sound in my closet and it scared me. It was the blue tarantula, he's in my closet. Me and my friends are scared of the blue tarantula"

These days, Emery's imagination is going wild. She loves Max&Ruby and right now here favorite episode is Max's Halloween. On that episode, there is a blue tarantula story and Emery is obsessed with it. I never realized it was scaring her. But, it must not be scaring her too much since she's watching the same episode right now.

Paisley - 2 and 3 Month Update

I started a tradition of taking monthly pictures with Emery. I remember it getting more and more difficult as Emery began to be mobile and counting down the months until I could be done taking the monthly pictures. With Paisley, it isn't too hard getting decent pictures, the challenge is finding the time to take the pictures and then post them. So, in an attempt to get caught up, here are her 2 and 3 month updates.

2 months:
Height: 39 3/4 - 65th percentile (I think - it was over a month ago now)
Weight: 11 lbs 10 oz - 65th percentile
Eating: 4 oz every 2-3 hours
Sleeping: Paisely likes to eat and sleep. She's only waking up once during the night, usually between 3-5a. She drinks a bottle, gets a diaper change and she's back to bed within 15-20 minutes.
Temperament: Paisely is a very easy going baby. She only cries when she's hungry or tired but I can usually pick up on her cue's quick enough that she never gets to that point.
3 months:
Height: unknown - we don't have a 3 month check up
Weight: 13 lbs (according to our scale at home)
Eating: 6 oz every 3-4 hours. She usually eats at 8a, 12p, 3p, 6p, 930p
Sleeping: Paisley started sleeping through the night at 9.5 weeks - right before I went back to work. It was a little bittersweet because I was looking forward to being able to spend a few minutes with her before I went to work on my morning shifts. She usually goes to bed around 930p and gets up between 8-9a.
Temperament: Paisley is a great little baby. One could almost forget she's even there. She absolutely loves to watch Emery and is so entertained by her. Paisely recently discovered her hands and has times where she goes cross eyed checking them out. I'm not sure if Paisely has started actually teething or not, but she is a drooling machine these days. She's also chewing on her hands constantly.

Hip Dysplasia update: We go back on Friday, 1/7 for another ultrasound. If all goes well, Paisely will be completely out of the Pavlik Harness and will just have regular follow up x-rays to be sure her hips stay in line. It has been wonderful being able to have the harness off for 6 hours/day. The timing was pretty good too since it was right when I went back to work. On the days that I work, I usually get Paisley harness-free the entire day which is awesome. She's currently wearing 6 month clothes and I suspect she will be into 9 month clothes very soon. Just wanted to add another picture of Paisely in her harness..
And here she is after I get her dressed. Part of my goal is to cover up the harness so she still looks cute, but also so she doesn't feel like a ball of velcro.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We spent Christmas Eve at home this year. My mom came over early in the day to drop off gifts and let Emery open one of her presents early. Emery was so happy to get a new dress up kit and couldn't wait to get dressed up in her tutu.
We made dinner for my Mom, Grandma Lola, Auntie Silv and Uncle D. Well, the plan was that I would cook but I was still too sick to cook. So luckily, Ivan stepped up and cooked - with a smile on his face and all. Here is Emery helping make homemade macaroni & cheese.And Paisley hanging out her in bouncy chair while they cooked.
After dinner, Emery opened up a few more presents.
She got a pedicure kit and couldn't wait to start painting "pretty pretties" for herself. She also painted my toes as well.
Grandma Phyllis and Emery
After everyone left, we got ready for bed. We were sure to leave cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.
After all of the wrapping was done, it was apparent that Santa visited our house. Looking at the picture, it doesn't seem like a lot of presents. But, every single one was for Emery. She was happy with the amount of gifts and I guess that's all that matters right.
Christmas morning, Emery woke up around 9:15a and Paisley was still sleeping. This was perfect for me since I still wasn't feeling well. Emery actually forgot about the whole Santa and present thing and just wanted to start her morning like normal, with a cup of milk and watching Max & Ruby. We reminded her about Christmas and asked if Santa had come. She then ran to the living room and began opening presents.
Most of her gifts from Santa - her favorite was the Unicorn Pillow Pet.Paisley with her gifts from Santa.The famous Bullseye. There is definitely a story behind this gift. Emery got Jesse from Aunti Silv for her birthday and it became her favorite toy. Since she didn't have a real Bullseye horse, Emery turned a stuffed giraffe into Bullseye and would have Jesse ride the giraffe. I felt guilty that she didn't have Bullseye, so, for Christmas, I thought I would buy her Bullseye. If I had only known what I was getting myself into. It turned out that Bullseye was a hot item this year. The employees of Toys R Us literally laughed in my face when I told them I was looking for Bullseye. The told me when their next shipment came in and that they would be getting a whole 4 in for the week - really? Anyway, I resorted to bidding on EBay. The toy was normally $49.99. I was bidding up to $75 and kept getting outbid. Unfortunately, while bidding online, Emery saw Bullseye and then she really wanted it. Finally, someone at work told me to look on KSL. So, after 4 days of spending almost all of my waking moments searching for Bullseye, I finally got one. And, I only paid $25 more than the normal price ha ha.

So, Emery with the famous Bullseye.
And that night in bed with Bullseye. I joked that if it wasn't her favorite toy, I would send her to time out. I still think the silly $20 Unicorn Pillow Pet is her favorite toy but at least she likes the Bullseye toy.We went to Silvana's for Christmas brunch and unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. That should tell you that I was really sick and not feeling well. My illness aside, we had a wonderful Christmas. Emery still asks every couple of days if it's Christmas and if Santa is coming to visit. It's sad to see the look on her face when I tell her she has to wait a whole year for all of the festivities.