We moved!!

Literally and in blogger terms.
Check out my lastest family life update here https://bandmefamily.wordpress.com

Dum-mo!!!

Growing up my family had certain words we would use for objects. Not made up words but words we would call things. "Woobie" was our blanket. We had a word for poop and so on. Since Piper has been born we, or I should say I, have been trying to get her to call things a fun nickname but unfortunately they haven't stuck. Her vocabulary has really been in full swing lately and she has come up with some doozies all on her own. 

"Papa" grandpa

"Gags" grandma

"Inkey" blanket

And our new favorite 

"Dum-mo" Dumbo

New Year

Welcome to 2015! I am so excited to see what this year brings. B and I went out to eat on NYE and we were talking about our favorite years since we've known each other. It's so hard to choose we had so much fun when we were "younger" and since we've had Piper it's just been so much fun. She's really developing her personality and she keeps us laughing. This year is the first year I've written down a list of what I want to accomplish this year. I've been reading some business books and all of them recommend to write down what you want to achieve. I feel like it's more real writing down goals rather than just talking about what you want to do. So wish me luck that I can get at least one of my goals done! 

Piper and her New Years smoothie treat! 

Happy Holidays To You and Yours!!!

Hope you had a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! 

Love Piper, Ben and Leslie

Daddy's little helper

Piper has been so fun lately. Nineteen months has been a dream, in between the tantrums and throwing chewed up food onto the floor. 

But seriously she has becoming helpful arounds here. She loves to help mommy and daddy with the chores. Every night after work Piper helps dad take out the dogs and then gives them their treats and food. Also she likes to help with the laundry and load the washer for us and put laundry soap in the machine. 

What "chores" do you let your little ones help with? 

Happy Fall

It's been a while I know. We've just been busy working, playing with Piper and we were able to take a couple trips. 

In September our daycare was closed for a week so we took a quick trip to visit a friend in Chicago. It was so fun! I've never been and B just loved that he was able to get back there even though he doesn't remember much from living there. 

We had a great fall and Pipers first Halloween that she was able to go door to door. She loved it and was so tired and could barely hang onto her bucket by the end of the night but still didn't want us to help her carry it. It was so cute and I can't wait for next year. 

We finally got some family photos done this year. They turned out beautifully and I can't believe how well the photographer got Piper to smile. It was so much fun. 

For thanksgiving we stayed here but the weekend before we went back to Fargo ND to see my family. It was great to all be together again and see all the nephews. We also were lucky in the fact that it was "warm" when we were back there. It was in the thirties. The week after we left it was single digits so I would say we lucked out. 

I'm getting excited for Christmas and can't wait for it to snow. It's not looking a whole lot like Christmas here right now. But it is nice to get out and play without having to bundle up. 

Ok so that's a quick update. If anyone has any great advise on how to handle toddler tantrums please let us know!! 

12 Months!!

One Year!!!

We made it, we did! Looking back on this last year those first few days we had with our little miss Piper Jean I wanted to put her back in my belly. This past year has been one of the hardest and yet best years of my whole life. Piper has just the most amazing personality, such a sweet yet so silly at the same time. And she is just so happy! That's got to be why my days are so much better when I get to spend it with her!

" I love being 1" 

"here mommy you can have this sticker back"

silly lady

Now we are onto the toddler times.....oh man I'm a little nervous to experience this so any pointers are very much welcome!!

11 Months

It feels almost like April Fools day because it's so insane that Piper Jean is already 11 months old. It's been a whirlwind few months with teething, colds, changing her habits and not to mention that her little personality is coming out! It's going to be scary when she starts talking. 

love her baby blues

• Piper is eating so much now! She definitely takes after her father. Love it
• She's walking everywhere. The next goal is to get her to keep shoes on her feet. 
• Babbling, yelling and laughing. She's so fun. 

• Piper is getting into EVERYTHING. This week was wild and we have to follow her around everywhere!
• Her little 'tude is coming out. Screaming and yelling and a little bit of tantrums starting. 
• Naps are getting hard, for some reason she wants to fight her second nap with me. But daycare she is still napping really well!

10 Months

she was actually really happy when we took these, I swear!

Wow 10 months already. This last month flew my. Literally. I feel like we just did her 9 month photo shoot and here we are putting that 10 month sticker on the top of her head and playing around in the laundry basket. 

She's:

• Figured out how to use her walker! It's been so fun
• Standing all the time now
• Moved up a diaper size.... stop growing so fast
• In 12 month clothes
• Babbling all the time
• Moving all the time, between standing, squatting, lunging herself onto us, taking little steps, crawling up the stairs, digging in the dog bowl, and pulling herself up on us

Also:

• She's gotten her first cold, sad weekend
• Is getting picky about food! Not like her
• Teething, the never ending teething

All in all everything has been going really good. Now we are looking forward to some nice weather and playing outside!

Giggles

My Valentine....

9 Months

It's crazy to think 9 months have gone by since Miss Piper Jean was born. I mean the 9 months when I was pregnant seems to crawl by but now they fly. Maybe it's all the entertainment we get from this bundle of energy when she is awake!

we got smart and gave her puffs during pics so she would leave that sticker alone!

sassy face

Pipers...

• standing! All the time, she stands and squats down to grab stuff and even monkey crawls to get to where she wants to go. 
• taken a few steps! And by a few I mean one step here and there. She just lunged herself onto me tonight. I feel like she's going to take after mommy in the jumping sports;)
• goo goo-ing and ma ma-ing. I think she even said HI earlier. Probably just reaching there. 
• eating... a lot! She's basically eating what ever B and I do. She definitely takes after dad.
• always on the go! She just never stops. Ever. And so interested in everything. It's fun, and a little exhausting. 

Pipers not...

• liking being changed..at all! It takes an army (B and me) to get her dressed in the am. I usually start sweating from chasing her around.  
• liking baths again. She just goes back and forth on this one. Any tips???
• liking socking. Every morning I put them on her and before she's at daycare they are off. We think she just takes after daddy and has hot feet. 
• afraid of anything. She's not picky with eating or climbing up the stairs or trying to take a header off the couch. 

So that's Piper in a nutshell. Nine months flew by and we are so looking forward to the 1 year mark! I can't wait to start hearing her talk and watching her run around (cause everyone who knows Piper she will not be walking, it'll be a run from the first day.)

has anyone seen this yet?

I was browsing through Facebook and saw a link to this article..."I Look Down On Young Women With Husbands and Kids and I'm Not Sorry".  I'm sorry I read it. How disgusting people have gotten. First off to think we even need to spew this garbage out there. Who cares your thoughts on stay at home moms and families and to even BEGIN to think "a stay at home mom is really on equal footing with a woman who works and take care of herself." 

 

In my opinion, and that's all it is, I think that stay at home moms may have it harder than myself who goes to work. I know I am missing out on some milestones Miss P is going through but having a child and a job helps me achieve what I want out of life. (but I mean I would LOVE more time with Miss P)

 

All I can say is THANK YOU to my day care. With out you I would be pulling my hair out daily trying to get it all done.  Knowing when I am at work and I am sending by beautiful baby to the angel that we call daycare. I know there is a God because he made those people who watch our children, help us raise them and teach them how to be other amazing people.

 

And please read this response article Anonymous wrote.

 

Have a great Tuesday!

8 Months

Wow, January, 2014. Time flies when your chasing your in between infant/toddler all over the place. (by the way what age do you call your baby a toddler? IDK but I can say for sure I do not see Piper Jean as an infant anymore!) After all the holidays we just celebrated and all the firsts Piper just had it's fun to celebrate the eight month milestone with Ms. Piper. 

Fun:

• She loves eating! I'm so happy and it's so fun to try new stuff all the time with her. She's been able to pick her food up with her fingers so we are doing a little baby led weaning as well as purees. 
• She's starting to stand on her own. Still very timid but she pulls herself up on everything like crazy so now she just lets go and will stand for a bit (few seconds) before she reaches out for us. 
• Shaking her head no. I don't think she knows what it means but she just thinks its funny to shake her head back and forth.
• Crawling up the stairs. I think I should put this in the not fun column for me. I'm scared to death now to take my eye off of her for a second. But she is a dare devil what can I say. 

Not Fun:

• Pulling her socks off. I put them on and they are off with in the minute. Then they are in her mouth and wet and slobbery for the rest of the day. Lets just say I have about four pairs of socks in her diaper bag at any time.
• She started to hate her bath! This sucks she used to love playing around it in now I can't sit her in the water before the tears start! So not fun. 
• Teething. It's still going on and no new teeth to show for it. Today was a rougher day for her and us but I finally saw one top tooth starting to poke it's way through. 

Some out takes from today's pictures.

See Ya...

Ciao 2013, it's been real.

I have to say this past year has been my favorite by far. I found out so much about myself, what I can handle, how to stop and breath and best of all enjoy the little things. Here's to you and yours and another amazing year ahead of all of us!

as you can see this beautiful and happy little lady is the main reason...

Christmas Christmas Time Is Here

It's hard to believe Christmas came and went already. Time flies when you are having fun...and chasing baby around all the time. We are so blessed to have Piper Jean in our lives, she is a doll and is always in such a good mood. So here's here first Christmas in pictures. We hope you all had an amazing day as well. 

-Love Piper, Ben and Leslie

7 Months

It's crazy to think that it's already been seven months since the little "cookie" was born. I am just amazed at how fast our Piper Jean has grown. With her first Thanksgiving in the books and Christmas upon us, I just keep thinking how blessed we are to have her in our lives. 

such a happy girl

She LOVES:

• Moving and grooving. She is all over the place, crawling, pulling herself up you name it. We've started babyproofing, the gate mainly, so any suggestions on the best baby proofing stuff please share.
• Putting everything in her mouth. I think her upper teeth may be working their way through so she is gnawing and drooling like crazy. 
• Toys that light up. Most of the toys we have for her are the baby toys. So we finally got a few light up and noise toys. It's so fun to watch her play. 
• Eating. She's been eating solid food for a couple months now so we have been having fun mixing and matching her foods. She loves them. 
• Her new minky blankey. Auntie Jenna shared her little pink blanket when we were home and ever since she always cuddles with it when she naps. It's so cute. 
• Baby Einstein videos. We don't watch them all the time but when she's fussy we'll pop one in and she calms down and just loves to listen and watch the video. 
• Other kids. She just smiles like crazy when she sees other kids. It's so fun. 

She does NOT love:

• Changing! Lets just say we have made the move to all zipper sleepers. So much easier
• Naps. We got her in the crib for nighttime in a fairly easy transition but naps are a little harder. The only positive is when she finally goes down she can take a good nap for us. 
• Turkey. Since we started solids the Dr. told us to try meats out soon so after Thanksgiving I made her some turkey to try. We basically have to mix in anything we can to mask the turkey. Sweet potatoes and bananas have worked so far.

All in all we are having a blast with watching her grow. I've already told B he is going to have to be the disciplinary because I have a feeling I'm just going to be laughing whenever she does something. 

just love those little teeth