FOOD!

For the past month or so we've been feeding Chelsea cereals. First we tried rice cereal, but she didn't seem to like it, so a few weeks ago we tried the oatmeal cereal. I could not get that spoon reloaded and back to her mouth fast enough! She loved it!

Chelsea is 5 months old now so we're thinking about spicing up her diet with more solids. I really want to try home made baby food first. It will be cheaper in the long run and I'll also know exactly what's in it. (no preservatives ect.)

I found an awesome wed cite with a bunch of advice, directions and recipes for home made baby food. www.wholesomebabyfood.com

I'm really exited to make a bunch and see what Chelsea thinks of them. Bring on the next adventure in parenting... Ahhhhh...

Home Again

This weekend we took our first road trip with Chelsea. We went down to Utah for our nephew's baby blessing. It was great to see everyone and to see the new little addition to the family. Now when I say little I should explain that our one month old nephew is the same size as our four month old daughter. It was funny to put them side by side and see that Chelsea is just a little bit longer than Him but he is a lot stockier than her and his head is bigger, I then felt quite grateful for my LITTLE girl, I don't mind them small at all. Although we were definitely jealous of all that little guys hair! He is so adorable with his hair all styled!

Chelsea was a great traveler! It was about a 4 hour drive. Chelsea slept for 2 hours then would wake up so we would stop at the nearest rest area to feed, change, and burp her, then it was back into the car seat and she would sleep the remaining two hours. It worked that way both on the way down and on the way back up. I was so nervous about how she would do. But she was great. The other fun part was packing for her. Not that it was hard or anything, I was just worried I'd forget something simple and obvious. Like bringing the formula but forgetting the bottles, or bringing the wet ones but forgetting diapers. That just seems like something I would do. But happily I remembered everything we needed and more... ya, I brought a ton of diapers.

Esau stayed home, my sister Jennifer babysat him for us. I'm sure they had a blast! We got home late Sunday night and while Chris was taking Jennifer back to here place, I was unpacking. First thing I did was take poor Chelsea out of her car seat and put her on the floor to stretch, then I go into the kitchen to unpack some stuff. She was contently cooing for a while, then I hear her give a squeal of delight and giggle a little, so I look over to see what she's so happy about, and this is what I saw...

Esau was licking her ears and then cuddling her. I grabbed the camera that I had just unpacked and was able to get a picture of both! Esau then looked up at me and almost seemed to say "You're not taking her away from me again!" I thought it was the cutest thing ever. Chelsea was very happy to see him too.

Fun with Chelsea

Chelsea started something new!

She loves to talk! The first time she did this was when we had friends over. They were sitting on the couch across from us, we were just talking back and forth. Chelsea who was sitting on my lap decided that she wanted to be part of the conversation too. She was determined to make just as much continuous noise as we were. Since then I've been trying to catch it on camera, and...Ta da! success! So here is the video, you can just imagine her "telling" you about her day or what she's thinking about.

She also loves her new Bumbo. It's a whole new angle on life sitting up. She loves chewing and drooling on her little white tiger Great-Grandma Jones gave her for Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

This year Chris & I hosted the Baldwin's Christmas Eve Dinner. The food was great! We made a big Ham in the crock-pot, it turned out delicious with a glaze we made with Coke-brown sugar-cinnamon.

After dinner we had a snowflake making contest of which Kyle kicked butt with a very intricate design. We all had a tone of fun trying to figure it out, Chris was of course the go to guy on how to fold the paper to make it a six sided snowflake. This knowledge came from when he and the guys at work got bored and sat around and made snowflakes, Chris then figured out how to fold it to make six sides. (ya gotta love government jobs!) We then played the "signs game" at Ashley's request and had a blast!

Christmas day started off on a great note with Chelsea sleeping in until 9:00. It was great! Then we got up and went to the presents under the tree. Chris got some clothes, boomerangs, a tie organizer, and an iPod touch. I got some books, bath stuff, a journal, but my main present was a Sewing table with an airlift for my machine to be above, below or flush with the table! Tons of storage and folding leafs to extend the table. And it all collapses into a nice little dresser.We both were spoiled!

Chelsea got a Bumbo, and lots of stuffed animals. Esau got toys too and... he unwrapped them himself, and no, he did not stop at the paper! It was hilarious to watch! I wish I had a video of it, but here are some pictures at 5, 10, & 13 minutes

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!

Baby Came

Chelsea Ramona Baldwin was born 5:02 AM on September 18th 2010. She was 6 Lbs 15 oz.

Ya it's been two months since she was born and I just barely got around to Blogging about it, but hey, I've been busy!!!

Ever since she was born she has been such a Daddy's girl! Even in the delivery room when she was getting cleaned up and was screaming, once Chris touched her back she stopped crying and just looked around with big (Steal Grey) eyes.

She has been such a blessing and so much fun!

Chris Blessed her a week later on the Sunday before my Mom and Dad had to go back to Dubai. I had to take-in her Blessing dress a good 2" because she was so small. I barely got it finished the night before the blessing, but it payed off. She looked great!

Esau and Chelsea have been getting along great! At first Esau just ignored her, but now that he realized she's not going away, he likes to be close to her. Especially when Chelsea is on the floor for tummy time or playing under her jungle gym. He's learning to keep his tongue in his mouth when close to Chelsea, and he is a great at telling me when she has a dirty diaper, though Chelsea usually kicks him in the head when he's checking.

It has sure been a blast getting to know Chelsea and her quirks. She rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time the other day. At first I thought it was a fluke, but after putting her on her tummy four more times with the same result, I figured she knew what she was doing.

She is still a Daddy's girl, Chris can get some of the best smiles out of her, but she does babble to me more. We have the competition going of me trying to get her to say "Momma" first and Chris trying to get her to say "Dada" first. Its kinda' fun, but I'm totally going to win!

When I was up in Canada this last May my Mom and I got talking about the Baby, and everything that we needed to plan and get ready for when she came. One thing we talked about was Baby Blessing outfits. Mom had the amazing Idea that I make the Blessing Dress out of her Wedding Dress. At first I hesitated because that meant that I would be cutting up my Mom's Wedding Dress. She assured me that she didn't mind and that it's not like she was using it any way.

So we packed up Mom's wedding dress and brought it home with us, where it sat in the baby's room until I got up the guts to start working on the Blessing Dress.

I felt so bad cutting into the Wedding Dress. With the first few scissor cuts I kept saying "I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry!" But as a fairly cute (if I do say so myself) Blessing Dress came out of it I think I felt a little less guilty.

I haven't put the zipper in the back yet, I still need to buy one. I also don't know how big she is going to be, so if I need to expand or take it in I can do it from the Zipper, which I won't put in until she's here. Maybe a week before the Blessing to be sure it will fit her.

The dress size is supposed to be for between 7-15 lbs. or 1 month old. She's due on the 12th, and we'll have to bless her before my parents go back to Dubai on the 30th, so the last Sunday of the month is our best bet. On the rare chance that she's born on her due date; that would put her at 2 weeks old. I've heard that in their first week they loose a pound or two, but then they gain it back with interest in the second week. So guesstimating her birth weight at about 7 lbs ish, she could be anywhere from 7-10 lbs on her Blessing day, and if she's born a week early, maybe she'll be about 15lbs, or a week late would put her at about 7 lbs. Ya it's a huge guessing game, I just hope the dress will fit her! It was a lot of work and it would sure stink big time if she ended up not fitting it.

IT'S A GIRL!

We had our week 20 check-up today, and the ultrasound to see the Baby. The technician was great. She was able to tell right away that we were going to have a girl. Of course Chris had to know how she knew, and how often she had been wrong. So she explained what to look for (something about a turtle for a boy and three lines for a girl) and that no one has ever come back to tell her that she was wrong. She also did a bunch of measurements of the skull, brain, cerebellum, spine, ect. and everything checked out as healthy. She also checked the umbilical cord, and turned on a really interesting feature that shows two different colors depending on the direction of flow in the cord, to make sure the blood was pumping both ways, and to be sure there were two arteries and one vein... because thats important... don't ask me why, it just is. I don't know enough about that stuff. But all in all our Baby Girl checks out as normal and healthy. Well as normal a kid could be with parents like us. ;)

It was fun seeing her move around as we watched. And boy did she move, the tech. had a hard time trying to point things out since she kept moving all the time. It looks like she'll be a talker too, while we were trying to get a picture of her face to check for a cleft pallet (she doesn't have one) she kept moving her lips, and right as we took the shot she yawned, so this is the picture we have of her face and the big yawn. I feel like I'm rambling on, but I'm allowed to right?

Both Chris and I were trying to keep very open minded and not get our hearts set on one gender or the other. So when we were told she was a girl, I don't think I had much of a reaction. It was just kind of... Oh. OK. Sweet.

Chris was the same, but I got his thoughts later while we were waiting for the doctor. He said his first thought was, "well, everyone is having a girl right now, so why not us?" then his second was, "now I'll have to protect her from all those punks out there!" and the third thought was, "I'm gunna have to save up for a wedding now too." (I thought they were all perfectly cute daddy-to-be thoughts.) but then again I think everything is cute right now.

We're still open for any suggestions on a name, so if you have one speak up. I'm kind of drawing a blank. Poor girl will be cursed for the fourth generation to have the middle name Ramona, like me, my Mom, and my Grandmother.

So ---------------, Ramona, Baldwin.

Or if you have a name you've already claimed, feel free to speak up so we don't use it. Chris and I will not steal a name someone has already called dibs on. (and has let us know about it.)