Cookies: Round 1

I, John, decided to experiment with some baking this weekend; this is in preparation for the Kinsey family Christmas cookie contest held annually during the holiday season.

My first attempt was a 'Two-tone chocolate holiday' cookie, but I wasn't too impressed with the taste. I will have Dylan and Brooke Strube test them out this upcoming weekend, since they will be in town visiting, as a try-out.

My guess is that I need to go back to the drawing board. Here are some photos:

Updates

Well, we've been MIA for a couple weeks because Cali continued to be sick until a few days ago. At her 6 month "wellness" visit, she still had a cough from her first cold, but was diagnosed with a second cold and a second ear infection. If that wasn't enough, later that evening, she got the stomach flu. Things only got worse from there. And guess who was conveniently out of town that weekend?--daddy! Celia thought it would be fun to come up and help out for the weekend, but soon regretted it when she ended up getting Cali's stomach bug, resulting in an ER visit in the middle of the night to get IV fluids (no taking chances with a pregnant woman!) I caught Cali's cold and stomach bug as well, and when John got home, he got them both too. A week later, John also seemed to get the seasonal/swine flu as well, but Cali and I escaped that one with the help of our vaccines I'm sure.

Sooo....after a horrible 2 months of Cali being sick, ending with that horrendous week where we all got sick, we decided something drastic needed to change. Cali was waking up every hour, sometimes needing to be rocked for over an hour and we were all exhausted. We were wasting money at daycare because we had to keep her home sick at least once every week since the first week she was there, and we had to use our sick days at work too. So...I will be staying home with Cali starting the first of the year to try and cut down on her illnesses and to spend priceless time with my little one. Daycare has been good for her stranger anxiety (see how happy she is with Celia in the photo?!), but that's about it. Besides being sick, she doesn't eat or nap well there either. She hadn't gained any weight between her 4 and 6 month appointments, but I swear in the last week of being healthy, starting solids, and being home most of the week, she has gained a pound or two!

She loves her cereal, but not so sure about the sippy cup

But on a MUCH happier note...because Cali finally has her health back this week, we took the opportunity to do some sleep training. Our failed gentle weaning attempts and our sleep deprivation led us to be desperate enough to try the "cry it out" method and to go cold turkey on the swaddle blanket, night feeding, giving her her pacifier back/picking her up, and her bassinet. We were positive that our high maintenance/diva daughter would cry for 2 hours straight...but the longest she cried was 25 min, and it lessened each night after that. It took 6.5 months, but she finally slept through the night! We have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend! John and I have been sleeping on the pull-out couch though, so we'll see what happens when we return to our room (right next to Cali)...TO BE CONTINUED...

Here's our quaint (aka pathetic) Thanksgiving meal...a pre-cooked turkey for two, Texas potatoes and a regular pumpkin pie for John, and a can of cranberry sauce and dairy/soy free mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie for me.

We had a really fun visit with Santa today. Cali was giggling in line with the other kids, but as soon as we put her on Santa's lap, we got the frowny face. So I actually sat next to Santa with Cali on my lap and then her mood turned from anxious to curious--she didn't know what to think about that beard!

And then daddy got her to smile...

We bought Cali this dress last December, the day we found out she was a girl. Amazing how much changes in a year.

Parks & Rec

This weekend was full of attempts to improve Cali's sleep:

1. Early Saturday we visited the doctor (4th visit in 4 weeks) to investigate Cali's horrendous congested cough that wakes her up every hour-- apparently we have nothing to worry about because a humidifier will fix that problem-ha.

2. Cheyenne has been working with Cali to wean her off of the swaddle blanket for naps and nighttime sleep. Minimal luck on this front. Cali seems to love the swaddle.

3. Along the same lines, Cheyenne has been attempting to teach Cali to soothe herself via the nook or her fingers while sleeping. Again, no luck there.

When Cheyenne realized Cali was about to outgrow her dresses that she never seems to have a chance to wear, we headed to the park for a picnic and to take photos at the Japanese tea gardens and on the swings. Cali, as usual, is a cutie!

I spent Saturday night at a friend's high school reunion and acted as photographer. Earlier this week I also took some photos at work (of my department) to celebrate the fact that our company is a "Great Place to Work".

Enjoy the photos of Cali...

Pumpkinator

This weekend was relatively uneventful. Cali was still recovering from her week long cold and fever, which resulted in an ear infection, that has now been complicated by diaper rash due to the antibiotics. On Halloween, we took Cali to a local festival. She was the only 5-month old there, so she was a big hit with the festival goers. Here are a few costume photos:

On Sunday, before the Packer game, we had a little photo shoot with Cali on the rooftop of our apartment building. Most of these photos showcase the many faces of Cali: