9 Months Old

Mr. Alden is 9 months old. This sounds horrible, but that means only 3 more months of buying expensive formula. :) Just kidding. But, really. I'm excited to not have to buy it. :)



Here are the updates.

GROWTH: Alden is 23 pounds. This is, again, me weighing him on the scale with me. He doesn't have his next appointment until next month because he was late for his last appointment. I haven't measured his length, but he is getting pretty tall! :)

SLEEP: Sleep has been very interesting this month. Alden started teething this past month. We have 2 teeth and 2 more trying to come in. He hasn't been sleeping very well... And he is back in our bed. For the past few weeks we have had him sleeping with us. I like it because he is right there and I can take care of him without having to fully wake up. But, I'm not getting very good sleep and Lyndon and I haven't cuddled for quite a while. He gets up once a night, fussy and in pain. Then, he wakes up about 6 AM to eat and sleeps until 8 AM.

EATING: I'm loving this age. I haven't been keeping track of what new foods he has eaten this month. He eats pretty much what we eat. I put what we are having on his tray for dinner. He then gets his own meal a couple hours later before bed, so he is getting the full nutrition he needs. We have been experimenting with dairy. He is eating cheeses now, so I think his tummy is okay.

CLOTHING: 18 Month size. YIKES!

DIAPERS: Size 4 diapers

DEVELOPMENT: We can now roll the ball back and forth and play together! I love it. A week or two ago, he was standing, holding onto our coffee table, and let go. He stood by himself for a few seconds, then fell. It's only a matter of time. He will walk if we hold both his hands. He is talking really well. He isn't saying just mama or dada.. He is babbling. It is adorable.

We have done some fun things this last month. I'm excited for the holiday's to come. :) Stay tuned for more updates. :)

31 Day Challenge

Every blog I'm following seems to be doing some sort of 31 Day Challenge. I've decided I'm going to do one also, just something more my style. Since I love cooking, baking, etc. I've decided I will record what I make each day for at least one meal, with pictures, if possible. I will try to do something new each day with the recipes. We will see how this works out. I have been busy with the studio, but I will try to keep up with it. :)

I hope it will keep people interested. :)

West Valley Hoe-Down!

Our church had their annual Family Fun Night. We had it at the Payette County Fairgrounds and had a Hoe-Down!

We had BBQ chicken, cole slaw, corn on the cob, baked beans, and a Dutch oven contest for dessert!

There were horse rides for the kids, skits, line dancing, singing, and jokes. We had lots of fun.

Lyndon was in a little skit.


At the end of the skit, the joke was, "Maybe we should have made our sign say- 'Bridge Out Ahead'. "

Alden was able to ride his first horse.



We had a wonderful time at the Hoe-Down!

A To Z Of Me

A. Age: 23. 24 in November.


B. Bed size: Queen. Lyndon and I have talked about getting a bigger bed, but we love our Sleep Number.


C. Chore that you hate: Laundry. The more people in the house, the more laundry you have. We have apartment sized washer/dryer so it is running all day long. If I don't keep up with it, it piles up!


D. Dogs: Sophie Lynn, our Lhasa Apso was our first child. We got her as an engagement present from Lyndon's parents. She still sleeps with me at night. :) I love my puppy.



E. Essential start to your day: A nice hot shower. Even though my showers are quite as long as they used to be, before Alden, I still love showering in the morning. It wakes me up.

F. Favorite color: Pink or Purple.

G. Gold or silver: Silver. My wedding ring is White Gold because I like silver.


H. Height: 5'6". I'm much shorter than my husband who is 6'4"


I. Instruments you play: I'm not an instrumental person. I've tried piano, clarinet, flute, and trumpet throughout the years, but none of them took off. My passion is dancing.

J. Job title: Dance Instructor

K. Kids: One amazing son, Alden!

L. Live: Weiser, ID My perfect little town.

M. Mother's Name: Carol

N. Nicknames: Oh, lots over the years. The main ones are Tace, Stace, Stacy Lynn Lynn

O. Overnight hospital stays: When I have Alden. I stayed 2 nights in the hospital.



P. Pet peeves: Oh my, people who chew with their mouth open or talk with food in their mouths is probably the biggest.

Q. Quote from a movie: Oh no! Lyndon and I constantly quote movies. Our favorite movie to quote right now is Couples Retreat. :)

R. Right or left handed: Righty.

S. Siblings: 2 sisters- Susan and Sarah... Brother- Johnny


T. ???? What happened to T?!

U. Underwear: Fruit of the Loom.... ?

V. Vegetable you hate: I love most veggies. I know they always say tomatoes are fruit, but that is the veggie I hate. I consider it a vegetable.

W. What makes you run late: Husband and child. Getting Lyndon and Alden going, getting everything together for them, and getting in the car takes a while. We are later than usual since Alden has been born.



X. X-Rays you've had: Lots during the time I did gymnastics. Mostly for my ankles.

Y. Yummy food that you make: I love to cook and bake. Lyndon's favorite meal I make is spaghetti, garlic bread and caesar salad. His favorite dessert is pumpkin pie. I enjoy making cookies. I just love cooking in general.


Z. Zoo animal: The Monkeys! By far. I could sit and watch them all day. They are so entertaining.

If....

So, I stole this from a blog that I follow, and I thought I would do it. It looks fun and interesting, so here I go.

If I were pregnant again I would: Be excited, of course. What a blessing to have another child coming into the world, but a little nervous. Alden and the next one would be only a year and a half apart which would be NUTS! But, I love babies.

If I could have any job in the world I would: Be a stay-at-home mom just like I am. I have always wanted to own my own business, and here I am, owning a dance studio. My dreams are coming together!!! :)

If I had a day to myself I would: Definitely sleep in. :) Then, I know this will surprise people, I would want to spend the entire day alone with my husband. Maybe shopping, going out to eat, watching a movie together, just reconnecting. We are both so busy.

If I could get married all over again I would: Definitely be married on the beach in Hawaii. Of course, to Lyndon! :) We have talked about renewing our vows years down the road with all of our children in Hawaii. :)

If I could live anywhere in the US I would: Somewhere warmer. I love Idaho. There are 4 very distinct seasons, but summer isn't long enough. If I could fly south for the winter I would enjoy that. I love Idaho too much to leave. Cross our fingers we will never have to.

If Alden would have been a girl he would have been named (or your baby girl a boy):
Olivia Kayline Haines. I have LOVED the name Olivia for a long time. I like that it is old fashioned and feminine. Kayline was chosen because Lyndon's grandma is Kay and my grandma is Arline. If we have a girl in the future, this will be her name.

If you met me in real life you would probably say: She's comfortable in her own skin. I don't change myself for anything. You get what you get with me. I enjoy life and love who I am and where I am in life.

If I could go back to school and get a different degree I would: Get a degree in Art. Something for photography, painting, pottery, something. I have always enjoyed art but I knew I couldn't do much with a degree in it in a small town in Idaho. (6,000 population... yeah, small).

If money were not an object we would: Pay off bills. Credit card, medical, student loan, car loan.... Get it all gone. Then, buy a cute house, buy Lyndon a new truck, and save.

If I could meet one celebrity I would: Want to meet Guiliana Rancic. She is the news anchor on E News and has her own show with her husband, Guiliana and Bill on the Style Network. She has had a hard time trying to conceive a child and the show follows that struggle. She seems like a strong woman (Emotionally) and she is comfortable being herself.

If I could shop at one store for the rest of my life I would: Choose... Oh my! This is hard. Probably Kohls. Since I had Alden I have enjoyed shopping there. They have good sales, good prices, and good qualilty clothes.

If we get another pet I would: Want another dog. We currently have a dog and a cat. The cat is getting older (16 years old) and we know the end is coming for her. we have talked about getting another dog to keep Sophie company.

If I could go on a trip RIGHT NOW I would: Go to Mexico, Hawaii, somewhere beachy with Lyndon. We would just lay on the beach together and relax. Both our schedules are crazy so we never see each other. It would be nice to be together.

If I had to choose between a house cleaner and a personal chef I would: I know this sounds horrible, because I LOVE to cook and bake, but Right now I would choose a personal chef. With the dance studio and Lyndon working late hours, dinner is not a priority. Alden gets fed, but we find anything to eat when we get home at 7 or 8 at night. It would be nice to come home and have dinner waiting. :)

If I had the option of plastic surgery I would: Probably not take it. I don't think it is plastic surgery, but I would get laser hair removal. With a child, shaving legs is not always on the top of the list. In the shower I will feel my legs and think... Ehh, I could go another day. :) So, definitely hair removal. :)

8 Months!

Alden is 8 months old. I keep telling people, 9 months of pregnancy went a lot slower than these 8 months. I swear it has flown by! Where has the time gone???

Here are some updates on our wiggle worm.


GROWTH: Alden is weighing around 22 pounds. He hasn't been weighed "Accurately" at the doctors office since his 6 month checkup. This is calculated by me standing on the scale and then holding him. He is in the 90th percentile for weight. He is 29 inches long, which is also in the 90th percentile. He is one big boy.

SLEEP: Alden is sort of sleeping through the night. He has been teething (We have a tooth finally) and so there have been some rough nights. For the most part he goes down for bed at 9 PM and sleeps until 8:30 AM. There are night when he gets up at 5 AM crying, so I usually feed him and bring him into bed with me for the rest of the night. Lyndon leaves for work around 5:30-6 AM, so I get to snuggle my bug for a few hours.
Naps are not as long. We are still taking 2 naps (Sometimes 3) during the day. One in the morning at 10:30 to about 11:30 or 12. Then, he is back down at 2 PM until 3 PM.

EATING: Alden loves his food. If you can't tell from his size. :) He is still on soy formula, but isn't drinking as much as he used to. He drinks maybe 3 8 ounce bottles each day. He likes to eat solid foods more. He eats 3 meals a day and 3 snacks (With bottles in there) a day. Snacks include Ritz crackers, Gerber Graduates Puffs, canned carrots, cut up cucumbers, cut up fruit...I haven't kept track of everything new he eats because we don't try new things too often. He has tried corn and wheat. We held off a while on those because of allergies. We are waiting to try meat and dairy for a while still.

CLOTHING: Alden is in 18 month clothing. He is FLYING through his clothes. We had to go on a shopping spree recently for new clothes because he doesn't fit into ANYTHING.

DIAPERS: Alden is in Size 4 diapers.

DEVELOPMENT: Alden is pulling himself up to stand. If we hold his hands he will walk a few steps with us. He is crawling normally now. Whenever he wants to get somewhere fast, he still does the "Army crawl". He can go from a sitting position to crawling position. He is saying more words now and can put words with faces, such as Momma and Dadda.

Alden is such a good little boy. He is happy all the time and does mostly everything with me. He has, however, learned the temper tantrum. Now that he is on the move, learning "No" and getting things taken away is hard. But, what a joy he is!!! :)

The Studio

As you know, or don't know, I bought the dance studio that I have been teaching at for 9 years from the previous owner. At 23 years old, that is big step to take in life. We had our first week of practice this week and we had around 50 kids show up. I have 3 other girls that teach with me.

The building we were at for the past 3-4 years decided to sell. So, that meant we had to find a new location. I found a new spot on the highway that is a business center. The ceilings are lower than I had hoped for, but they have seemed to work pretty good.


I've been so nervous and have been losing sleep this past week because of this new venture. I went to school for Business Management, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be owning a business this young.


My mom has helped me tremendously with bookwork and signing new students up. I have had some calls this week for more girls who want to join, so I am excited about that.



What is nice about the studio is that we only are open Monday-Thursday from 4-6:30 or 7:30. I can take Alden with me while I teach. I teach 3 days a week for a couple hours. I love it.


This year, we are going to start competing again. The studio hasn't competed since 2004, when I was dancing. So, it is time to start again. I'm very excited about that.


I think this will be a great addition to our "Family". Hopefully, it will make us a little extra (very much needed) money.