6 mo Visit and Good News at Work

Earlier this week, I took Cheyenne in for her 6 month visit. Even though she got 3 shots, she did great. Our baby weighs 15 lbs and 14.5 oz. ---that explains why it's getting harder to carry her in that car seat. She is also 26 inches long. The doctor said she is right on track and is in the 50 percentile range, which I understand is average.

While I was there, we discussed her ear tag. Upon my request, he gave me the name of a doctor if we want to get her tag removed. After talking about it more with Trey, I think we're going to leave it and wait until she gets a little older. If she's self conscious about it, then we will make an appointment with a surgeon to have it removed. Trey and several people in his family have them and it's no big deal.

Work Stuff:
So, I got great news that a video I submitted won 2 Telly Awards. I posted the info on my work website, if you'd like to watch the video.
I smell a pay raise...hey, I can dream.

So Much for Surprises

I am completely amazed at how talented Trey is with woodwork. For someone as skilled as him, it's a shame he doesn't own his own miter saw, so for months I've been planning on getting him one. It was suppose to be a surprise, but last weekend, he kept on and on about how he wanted one, so he could help his brother with his room remodel. I kept telling him no because I wanted to wait to surprise him, but he wouldn't give up.......so I caved and told him to go ahead and get it.

I took this picture in early April. I wanted to make sure I bought the right one, so I asked him to point out his favorite---
DeWALT Heavy-Duty 12" Double-Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw.
(Trey told me this is the 10", he got the 12"--not pictured here)

He used the saw Saturday and he seems very pleased. I'm excited and happy he got something he really wanted. He's looking forward to putting wainscoting in our bedroom---that will probably be a project we will tackle next year.

Speaking of projects, my compost bin is almost done. It's about 80% built. I will post pictures soon. I also need to post a picture of the headboard Trey built for the guest bedroom. He used scrap-wood from Cheyenne's nursery.

Memorial Day

We spent some time out on the lake with some friends.

It's such a beautiful day. We saw a lot of people out on the water. But here it looks deserted.

Adam at the wheel. Trey asked him to hit some waves, to make the boat rock. Well, he hit some big waves and we got soaked. It was still fun.

Cheyenne in an infant size life jacket, at least that's what the tag said.
Cheyenne's first swimsuit, thanks to my Grandma..

Hanging out on the tailgate

Happy in the car

We spent Saturday and Sunday in Abilene. We got back into Fort Worth this morning. While we were there we spent time with family. The weekend flew by. Here is a picture of Angelica with Cheyenne. Angelica loves being around Cheyenne. She enjoys singing to her.

Holding the Bottle

Cheyenne is now holding a bottle by herself.
This is her, over at Leah's.


Well, this week of work has been very quite. All the students are out on summer break and most faculty are out for the summer. I will be working year-round. I'm taking advatage of this time to edit round the clock. I'm almost done editing and authoring both graduation videos. You would think, summertime at work would be slow, but I have several projects in the work, so things should be steady.

Other than work, I'm still running strong. Early this week, Cheyenne and I hit a trail, near our house. I've been on it a few times and I absolutely love it. I went for a long run, over an hour, so I was worried Cheyenne would get restless, but she was all smiles and laughs. The last 20 minutes, she gave in, and took a nap. I actually prefer her to be awake when I run because we get more face time that way. Here before too long, I won't have to use the car seat in the baby jogger. I'm not looking forward to that.

I've been looking for summer races and I'm very disappointed with my options. I haven't seen any that grab my interest. It seems like all the good races are Jan thru March. Bummer.

Cheyenne and Her Duck

She loves this little thing. Whenever she sees it, she starts kicking and smiling. She'll even reach out for it.

This week, Trey has been setting his alarm to wake up Cheyenne and get her ready because he feels like he doesn't get to see her that much on weekdays.Tueday morning, she was saying DaDaDa as he was getting her ready. I'm sure he enjoys it and I appreciate the help.

She's practicing good posture.

So, tonight I gave Cheyenne some avocado and she seemed to like it, but she's really loving spinach. Yummy. That's my favorite too.

Sitting Up

With my help, Cheyenne is starting to sit up.

She's growing so fast and even though she's not pulling herself up, Trey lowered her crib.
Okay, Trey wins, Cheyenne is officially saying DaDaDa.....

We had a good weekend. Cheyenne and I went to Ikea with with Amanda, Erin, Leah and the kids. I got a few small items, including an ice tray, in the shape of small flowers. So, it looks like Cheyenne's frozen veggies will be flower shaped. She's really taking a liking to the broccoli. Last night I made her some spinach, so I'll see how she likes that one.

Today, we're taking it easy at the house. I'm catching up on the DVR, but the weather is really nice, so I think we might get out and go for a run. I'd hate to waste this beautiful day in doors.

Sore Arms

Yesterday, I took pictures during the pinning graduation ceremony and this morning my arms feel sore. I should really try to do some strength training because it’s embarrassing how sore my arms feel. Typically, I help with the video production, but this year I did photography. It was a nice change.

With my arms feeling sore and all, it reminds me of when I did stage work for the Maroon 5 concert. And it looks like I might be getting a call to do more stage work, for a big summer concert: George Strait and Reba McEntire. It will be at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. I’m not sure if I will get the call, but I need to start thinking about whether or not I will be up for the job.

I would have someone watch Cheyenne, all day and all night because last time I talked to Trey, he said he wanted his name to be added to the call list, in hopes to do stage work too. No surprise there – after all, it is the new Cowboys stadium. We’ve heard football tickets will be very expensive, so this may be our free ride to see the stadium at a rare vantage point.

If I do get the call, I’m sure it will be last minute. Last time, the only reason why I got the job was because someone dropped 12 hours before call time.

I still have a few weeks to decide, that is….if the Union calls.
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I thought I'd share this cute photo that Leah took of Cheyenne.

First Taste of Food

I’m still working on introducing food to Cheyenne, but like I said in the video, I think we’re going to take it nice and slow. I plan on pureeing all her food, so we’ll see how that goes. So, far it’s been fast. Saturday, I pureed about 8 oz of broccoli, but since Cheyenne won’t eat all of it, right away and I don’t want it to spoil in the fridge, I went ahead and freezed what was leftover. I thought about buying those special baby food freezer trays, but my old ice cube tray seems to be doing the job.

Other than our food adventure, Trey has been mildly obsessing over the 2010 Camaro. At first I wasn’t sold on the idea, but after sitting behind the steering wheel, my opinion has changed.
Saturday and Monday, we went to the Chevy dealership and checked out the showroom model. In about 2 weeks, we’ll probably test drive one. As much as Trey wants one and I want one (for him), we’ve decided to wait on purchasing a new vehicle.
At the moment we’re on a 4-5 year plan. Once Cheyenne is in school we’ll look into it and by then Trey thinks the hype of the Camaro will wear off and bring down the cost. Trey is so into this car, he initiated an aggressive savings plan, so when the time comes, we can throw a large down payment on it. I’m all about that plan. I hate car payments, the lower the monthly payment the better. In the meantime, we shall admire the vehicle from a far.

Numbers 6:24-26

This is the bible passage we selected for Cheyenne's baby dedication.

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."

The Church Baby Bunch

The Family

Cheyenne and Pastor Todd

After the Dedication

Chey and Mom

She looks so happy!

And there's that profile shot, of her pierced ear. So, pretty.
My first Mother's Day was nice. We spent it with family and Trey got me several thoughtful gifts. He got me some flowers and green plants for the front patio. He's still sick and I'm a little worried because he doesn't seem to be getter better. Cheyenne still has a slight cough, but I think the humidifier is really doing the trick.

More on the food:
I gave Chey some more broccoli at lunch and she wasn't too crazy about it, but then at dinner she was so hungry she just gobbled it up. I will keep you posted as she makes progress with the food.

The HulK Broccoli Mouth!

Today, Cheyenne had her first taste of real food. How does some Broccoli sound? She took a few swallows, but for the most part she looked confused.

Another big thing that happened today, Cheyenne got her ears pierced! It's kinda of hard to see them in these pictures, but tomorrow I will probably take some profile shots. And yes, she did cry, but only for a few seconds. She cries longer when she gets shots at the doctors office. I really like the way the earrings look on her. They are too cute.

It's a little late, but today we celebrated my birthday with a chocalte cheesecake.

Waffle House

Cheyenne seems to be better this morning. Well, we're spending the day out on the town.

Learning To Sit

Cheyenne is trying to sit on her own.

The last 2 weeks, Trey worked a lot of hours and I think it got to his immune system, because now he's sick and even Cheyenne has developed a cough. She hasn't been fussy, but she does have a stuffy nose. Hopefully, by tomorrow this cough will pass.

My mom is coming to town and I maybe Natasha. I talked to Tasha earlier and she's not feeling well. I'm hearing a common theme here.

Trey really like the way she looks in blue.

Show off

No Teeth

We're still waiting on those teeth to come in, but in the meantime, Cheyenne has been chewing and slobbering on everything.

Lately, I've been playing with her during my workouts. I use a yoga mat and do sit-ups, pushup, stretching, and yoga poses with her. She loves it and I have to admit it's fun for me too. I'm not use to lifting weights and my goodness she's getting heavy.


Her slobber ring

Giving me a crazy look

If You Haven't Heard

If you've been living under a rock, you haven't heard about the swine flu craze, but for the rest of the world, you know how the media is just running this story in the ground. Texas is the big story and Ft. Worth even more so. We've had several cases in the school, so last week the district decided to close for a week. As of now, UTA has not been effected and honestly, I'm not in favor of closing the university because I'm in a time crunch already. I have a video that is due for it's second rough cut by tomorrow.

I can't wait until the summer break because the traffic in the department will slow down, which means fewer interruptions, which means I get more work done!

More on the swine flu:
We have a friend who decided to stay home all weekend because he didn't want to take the chance of being exposed. Trey and I didn't rearrange our weekend on account of the flu. We debated Friday evening whether or not to attend a birthday party. In the end, we went, but showed up wearing face masks as a joke. Everyone thought it was hilarious.

All in all, it was a good weekend. I had Friday off, so I made it a priority to get some miles in. Cheyenne joined me and together we logged 8. That Las Vegas trip really messed up my running goal for the month of April. I lacked 10 miles, so this month I'm trying to make up for it. Each month I aim to run 35 miles and up until April I was doing great.

Sunday was nice. We had Chip, Amanda, and Jacob over. I made enchiladas, which can sometimes be a hit or miss dish. Luckily, the corn tortillas worked with me and the meal was delicious. Trey and I should entertain more often, it was a lot of fun. Cheyenne was such a trooper, I know she was getting hungry, but she patiently waited until after we were done eating.

Hail Storm Moves Through

Earlier, a hail stormed blew threw. It got pretty ugly.
Trey telling me to look at the hail.

View from the front porch.

So much for doing yard work today.

Well, Cheyenne is still sleeping on her stomach and instead of fighting her on it, I've decided I will continue to put her on her back each night and if she wants to roll on her stomach...so be it. Thanks to the mom's who left feedback. It was reassuring to hear that's what some babies prefer.

Woman, Where's My Food?

When I'm in the kitchen, cooking or cleaning, I like to put Cheyenne in her high chair. She usually plays and talks while I do my thing.
In a week or two, I will introduce solids. She missed the whole cereal and oatmeal stage. Since she has been growing fine and sleeping through the night, I didn't think it was necessary to introduce it. When I asked my doctor for advice on the subject, he said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But I am looking forward to introducing vegetables and fruits to her. I'm not sure how she will respond to solids. Sometimes, she seems a little interested in what I'm eating and other times she could care less. Right now, everything goes from hands to mouth, so I think she'll welcome the food to her mouth, but she may not be interested in swallowing. We will find out soon.

We are about to hit the 6 month mark and this was my orginal nursing goal. Since Cheyenne is doing so well with it, I think I'm going to continue to nurse for another 6 months. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends nursing for at least 12 months. I asked Trey what he thought about it and he is supportive with whatever I decide. She may decide to wean herself sooner than 12 months once she gets a taste of real food and that's okay with me.

I used her duck to prop her up, so she wouldn't slouch.
She is definetly a morning baby.

This past week, I have been concerned about Cheyenne sleeping on her stomach. Everyone says you're not suppose to let them sleep on their stomach because of SIDS. It's really frustrating because last night I had to roll Cheyenne on her back three times. Trey is concerned too and my goal today is to look into a way to prevent her from doing this, so any advice is welcomed.