the best things in life aren’t things

We are back from Florida.  We made it in great time and Macy and I slept almost the whole way

Sarah and Chelsie came over for the night and we have bee playing Mario Cart and Guitar Hero.

It is almost 12 and I am so tired!!  I have such a big list of stuff to do I don’t even know where to start tomorrow!

 Here is a picture of Macy on Christmas Eve at church:

When I was pregnant, I was frantic to complete my registry and have everything the baby needed until they went to college.  Seriously.  It must be a nesting thing, but for my friends who read and are about to be first time moms, I want to assure you.  You will be fine with these few things (but definitely have these things!   )

(If you are bottle feeding….)

• You can’t have enough bottles…  I like the Dr. Browns
• bottle brush cleaner 
• drying rack
• microwave sterilizer
• insulated bottle holder
• burp cloths (10-12)
• the thin, flannel blankets (about 6-8 of them)
• You only need 1-2 thick blankets, they are really pretty but Macy gets so hot in them
• Onesies
• HAND MITTENS ones that are tight and have elastic, some of them don’t and slip right off (very annoying)
• socks(very small ones)
• a few hats (again small ones)
• one package of preemie diapers (Macy used these for the first few days when she was super tiny)
• Newborn diapers (don’t buy to many they grow out of them fast!)
• Cans of formula last about 5 days, so have about 4 cans
• temporal artery thermometer (super easy!)
• nose sucker (ask for two in the hospital, they are the best!)
• Paci’s (about 10) we keep them everywhere!
• Pampers sensitive wipes (RETURN the Huggies, they give baby a rash )
• travel system (I love my Chicco, we tested literally ALL of them this one was the best!)
• Mylicon
• Moses Basket
• Boppy (MUST HAVE)
• 2nd car seat base (changing them out is SUCH A PAIN)

What you don’t need (yet):

• baby bathtub (we bathe her in our lap)
• monitor (in the beginning, she sleeps in our room still)
• convertible car seat
•  bath toys (haha)
• grooming kit ( most of the stuff is useless, except the comb, if your baby has hair!!)
• medicines (they are to young to have them)
• Towels (you can use regular ones!!   )
• pack n play
• dishwashing basket (we never wash dishes though)
• snack cups/spoons/dishes
• toys
• books
• teethers
• safety stuff(outlet plugs/corner guards)
• bibs

A few more tips:

• Walk the dirty diapers outside to the trash, you cant get the smell out of the diaper pails
• Don’t get the baby used to formula at a certain temperature, or they won’t take it any other way
• Keep some diapers/wipes/bottles/an outfit/blanket in your trunk, you never know when you will forget it in your diaper bag, or run out!
• Everyone does things differently, but YOU know YOUR baby best.  If you see someone trying to help, but the baby prefers things differently, speak up.
• Every baby is different, and it does not reflect poorly on you as a parent to have a child that isn’t like someone elses.  
• Take a shower everyday even when you don’t feel like it, you will feel so much better
• It is normal to cry for no darn reason for a week after the baby is born.  It will go away.
• Your ONLY job is to take care of yourself.  You and the father take care of the baby together.  Let everything else fall to the wayside- in the long run you won’t care you sent your Christmas cards out late (hee hee)
• Remind your husband that the best thing they can do for their children is to love their mother.
• Lastly, you will need a lot of prayer.  Amen?

Okay I have a lot on my plate when I get home!!  I have to send out our Holiday Cards (haha)  they will get to you before Valentines day, get over it.  Get together a package to send to TX, take down Christmas stuff, finish Macy’s birth video, go to the doctor, go to the pediatrician, go to the dentist, finish painting the back porch, buy porch furniture, write about….. oh I don’t know 500 thank you notes…. (seriously at least 100- it just feels like five hundred) work on our 2009 budget, work on my exercise plan, figure out how I we can take vacations more often   haha….. and get Miss Thing on a sleeping schedule.  Piece of cake….. right?

 This picture is for Sarah… droopy lip….

Saturday night was a rough one.  She wasn’t screaming or anything, there was just no deep sleeping going on.  Anyway, Greg and I went for a boat ride:

You can see the cruise ships when you exit the canal:

We saw dolphins:

Did I say we are having beautiful weather?

We went to Ron Jons and walked to the beach.  It was so crowded!!! Much more crowded than I expected.  I mean, it is 80 degree but the water is freezing!!

Macy’s feet in the sand:

Macy and Daddy by the surf

Family picture!

Macy was okay at first when we dipped her toes in

It took her 5 seconds to  muster up a wail

She will thank me later

Her grandparents are having a blast!

Christmas Day we decided to go to Florida with Greg’s parents.  It was a little stressful for me, because I have a cold and we haven’t taken a trip with her before!  I should have known, Greg was wonderful as usual and unloaded all the Christmas stuff from the car and got us all packed.  He was SO EXCITED to be able to take a vacation.  Macy was fantastic the whole ride down, not a peep out of her! 

It took us a VERY long time to get here, because of traffic, but once we got here, it was great.  We unpacked and went to Sunset Cafe for dinner.  It is on the water, and it is a great view, not so great food….

Mary and Glen were brave and took Macy for the night.  Greg and I got some GREAT sleep.  I woke up and took some medicine and went back to sleep…. I was feeling kinda crappy.  Greg and Glen worked on the boat and Mary watched Macy.  Once I woke up we went to lunch/dinner at Milliken’s Reef, a VERY COOL new restaurant.  It was a little more fancy than I thought it would be, but the food was phenomenal.  I hope we go back!

While we were there, the cruise ships were leaving, so we got a few pictures by the water:

When we got home, Greg was DYING to get Macy in the "hot tub" (we had the temp turned down)  He couldn’t wait to try out her floaty seat.  SHE LOVED IT!

 Here she is with her Grandaddy:

Macy in her Christmas Dress

Dahler family Christmas Picture

Dahler Cousins

My family

Kisses for Macy

Jace and Macy

Jace giving Macy a kiss

The cake Glen bought…. it was 20 lbs of chocolate!!

Macy riding to Florida!  Can you see her with her hand on her face?

This morning’s weather was BEAUTIFUL!!!

Macy had a great Christmas.  Her Daddy bought her a few things, but my co-workers will not be surprised that I stuck to my word and didn’t buy her anything.  SHE DOESN’T NEED ANYTHING!  She got  bunch of girly clothes (SO CUTE!)

Macy’s Mommy & Daddy also had a great Christmas.  We were supposed to have a "scaled back" Christmas this year (yeah right…)

Some highlights include: and Ipod (now I am not the only person in the world without one!) Guitar Hero for Wii, Madden 09 for Wii, CUTE Coach purse, and a Blue Ray DVD player.  Those are just the highlights…..  I can’t even remember everything else.  We are so blessed, I went home and cried.  Seriously.

Christmas Eve my family and Greg’s family met up at North Metro for the Christmas Eve service.  It was very nice!  We also got to see Brooke and Baileigh…. OH MY GOSH if Macy is half as cute as Baileigh I will be happy, she is GORGEOUS ( looks just like her Momma-lucky girl!)

After dinner the Copponex’s took us to Bonefish Grill.  Greg and I have never been there before.  The food was absolutely fabulous.  The service was awesome, and we had a great time talking about old memories, and Christmas pasts.  After dinner- they headed to a neighborhood Christmas party and we went to my Grammas.  We didn’t stay long, I  feel a cold coming on!  Sarah was amazing-as usual- and took Macy for the night.  Greg and I got a great nights sleep.  We woke up at 6 and opened presents with my family.  After we were done we headed over to the Copponex’s.  We had "cupcakes" (pancakes) and opened presents over there.  We took showers and got dressed in some new clothes and headed to my Grammas.  We ate lunch, exchanged presents, and visited for a while.  We also took a lot of pictures.  I will post pictures later when I download them.  After THAT we went to Greg’s Aunt’s house for dinner.  It was amazing, as usual.  I was REALLY tired, so we left a little early.  We had decided to go to Florida that afternoon, so we had to go home and pack!!  We packed up and got to bed about 11.  Macy didn’t let me sleep very much, but I had to stay up so Greg could get some sleep to be able to drive!

Well, I guess not technically anymore, because it is a little after midnight. 

So Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Lance and Desiree came over tonight to play Wii and visit.  

I pretty much did nothing all day and it was awesome.

We are so in love with our beautiful baby.  Even though she is screaming right now.  Hungry Hungry hippo!!

Here is a picture of her and her daddy during some snuggle time.

It gets better everyday!

My baby has the most wonderful smell.  I just love everything, the formula, the diapers (new ones) her hair, her clothes…. ahhhh

I am starting to see glimpses of her personality.  Boy she is stubborn.  She has been sleeping like a CHAMP the past few nights.  It’s awesome!

We are at Big Canoe!  It is so wonderful to come up here.  Greg and I were married here, it is so beautiful and peaceful.  We have come up to Big Canoe the weekend before Christmas for as long as I can remember.  It gets me in the Christmas mood, and it’s so relaxing.  We came up a night earlier than we usually do, because we had the time, and I am off…   Greg and I bought my mom the John Adams DVD series for her birthday, so we are about to sit down and watch it.  Well, I will sit down, but I will probably not watch it.  I am ready to go to sleep!

Getting ready to go somewhere for a weekend with Macy is an adventure that’s for sure.  The car was packed to the brim!  I mean, we did have Sarah and her stuff, but we didn’t have the dogs!  Macy had more stuff to bring than Greg and I combined. 

Before we left we had a photoshoot for our Christmas card.  Oooooooh boy there were some FUNNY ones. 

Wow, we made a pretty baby