Beautiful Weather Makes A Great Weekend

It was great weather in Austin this weekend and we made sure to make the best of it. Aspen has been so much fun to hang out with in these last couple of weeks. As she gets older she becomes more and more interactive with us both. She also has continued to get better and better every time we go out to restaurants--which is nice every once and while!

Aspen continues to LOVE to eat. I hope that she will continue on this path as she gets older. This weekend we had peas and potatoes for dinner and apple-strawberry sauce for dessert. Her face looked like Christmas when she was done. As Aspen continues to enjoy eating more and more she has shown a slight disinterest in nursing. I still nurse her in the morning and twice during the day, but before bed feedings are now exclusively from the bottle (pumped milk). This use to be a time that I felt like we would bond--just the two of us in the rocking chair before she would go to bed for the night. This has been harder on me than anyone else obviously, although if she would rather the bottle at night then I'll give it to her. She ends up drinking more and allowing her to last about 12 hours through the night. My only hope is that I can keep my milk supply up over the next 5 months. I have noticed a decrease because she started eating solids, but hopefully I can keep up with her demand!



Ever since she was about 3 months old Aspen has taken to Bella, but lately it's gone to a whole new level. She will watch Bella run around the house chasing a ball and then laugh when she brings it back. Yesterday she was hanging out on the couch and wouldn't stop grabbing Bella's ears. We don't like Aspen doing this to Bella, but Bella doesn't seem to mind to much.



Since it was so nice outside this weekend we decided to bring her exercise machine outside and let her get some fresh air. Doesn't she look like she is having a great time.



I took about 10 close-up shots of her and I thought this one turned out pretty good. She looks like she is in very deep thought.



We of course took a couple of walks this weekend with Bella and had to stop at the swings for Aspen. She is so content on the swings and has even started to get sad and protest when we have to leave.



I love when the weather is nice like this and we can get out as a family. When I was pregnant I would always think about all the fun things we would do as a family and now I'm living it and it's more rewarding than I ever could have imagined.

It's Snowing!

It doesn't happen very often in Austin, but we have some real snow coming down outside. Once Aspen woke up from her nap this morning I suited her up and we went to snap some shots.

She was letting the snowflakes fall on her face. She wasn't crying, just taking it in.



Even the chickens were enjoying the snow.



Now this is what I call one fine looking snow baby...



If it keeps coming down I might try to make a mini snowman. I love the snow and I wish we would get this at least once a year. Although I'm very thankful I don't have to deal with it on a day to day basis every winter like everyone up north. I'm sure we will back in the 70's by the end of the week!

A Busy Weekend With the McCluckski's

Since the chickens finally gave us eggs this week, Jason and I decided that it was only right for us to finally finish their nest box in their coop. This is where they can lay their eggs. Before we just had a cardboard box inside the coop for them (this is where Jason found the egg the other day). However, Jason about two months ago started to work on a proper box for them and this weekend we finally got it all finished. It looks great! Check out the before and after (we attached the nest box on the side of the coop)...



On Saturday morning Jason started the process of finishing our project by doing a really good cleaning of the entire coop (it needed it!). While doing this he ended up finding five green eggs in the storage area above the coop. Unfortunately we couldn't eat these eggs because there was no telling how long they had been sitting around, but it was good news because we knew both we were laying since these eggs were green.



After cleaning everything out, Jason did the last touches on the box and I painted the roof of it white. While we were doing that we noticed Latika circling around in the cardboard box. We got to witness the egg laying process (well didn't actually see it come out, but heard a lot of squawking). It actually seemed quite exhausting on the poor girl. I'm glad she has plenty of room, food, and water so she can relax afterward.



Today while Auntie Erin came by to hang out with Aspen, Jason attached the nest box onto the side of the coop. Then I helped out by painting the box red to match the rest of the coop. Jason made it so that the roof is on a hinge so we don't have to go inside the coop every time we go to retrieve an egg.



We got another egg today!



Of course we had to spruce up the coop because...well...these darn chickens have been through so much and they deserve it.

**Side note--Toula is the only one from the original batch (she lays the green eggs) and she is also the same chicken who made the great escape in our garage when she was just a chick.

So we bought some stencil letters to spell out their name...McCluckski... and then we made chicken stencils because they didn't have any at the store. Pretty creative if you ask me.

Jason with the chicken stencils.



Painting on the stencils.



The final product. I think it looks awesome.



Of course we had to do all of this work during Aspen's naps, but thankfully she has been in a really good rhythm of taking two naps a day (about 1 to 1 1/2 hrs.). I actually was able to use our baby monitor for once. We don't need it in our house because it's small enough we can hear her, but it was useful being out at the coop to be able to hear her. This is what we found after one of her naps. It was a gorgeous day today and we had the windows open and the little one hanging out in her diaper.

Finally, we got an egg!

Today Jason went out to the coop to check in on the chickens. We had both become use to the idea that we may never get an egg out of these buggers. So Jason went to check on them and he peeked inside the coop and had to do a double take.

We bought a fake egg a few months back to try and encourage the chickens to lay, but we thought it was a lost cause. However when Jason took a peek he saw two eggs. He came yelling back at the house and I came outside with Aspen. I honestly didn't believe him (I thought it was the fake one). But, thankfully...we got our 1st egg!



Aspen was very excited to finally see these chickens do something.



We decided to fry the egg up and have it as an appetizer to our dinner tonight. Hopefully we will continue to see lots more eggs from now on.

Valentine's Day

We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day this year. Jason, Aspen, Bella, and I headed off to Midland for the weekend to surprise Jason's parents (with his sisters and their families) to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. I think they were VERY surprised, which was a lot of fun. It's great to see that after 30 years his parents are still going strong....what a great example to have!

Of course while we were there we had to do some photo sessions with the cousins. It went better this time than at Christmas. Although it was still hard to get all four of them to look at one camera. I love Cameron's expression in this photo.



We also had to pile the kids on Nanny's lap for a group shot. Cameron was holding onto to Aspen tight which was very sweet. We got two smiles out of the four.



Aspen did great on the 5 hour drive to Midland both their and back. However, when we were there we were sleeping in the same room as her. She is such a noisy sleeper (I don't realize this at home since she has been sleeping in her own room she she was 1 week old). Unfortunately I'm a pretty light sleeper, so I was trying to catch a little shut eye on Saturday afternoon--Jason caught me in the act.



Cameron got his hands on a foam finger for UT, which his mom being an Aggie was pretty hilarious. He also stood very patiently while the Longhorns in the family snapped some shots. Hook 'em!



We got Aspen dressed in her little Valentine's day outfit for church on Sunday morning. She did great during church--I think she enjoys all the people watching and listening to her Papa sing in the choir.



It was a quick trip and very busy, but a lot of fun to see Jason's family. As the kids get older it's going to be great to watch them all playing together.

**Of course my number one Valentine was my husband--I love you so much, loads of kisses and hugs from me to you!

Doctor's Appointment

Today we went for Aspen's 6 month doctor's appointment. She had the last round of shots in the series she has been getting. She screamed pretty loud when they actually gave the shot, but as soon as they were done she calmed down. She did very well and the doctor said she looks great and is hitting all of her developmental milestones.



Her stats for this month were...

Weight: 15lbs (30%ile)--we asked our doctor if it was ok that she wasn't that big in her weight and she said everything was normal and not to be concerned. She's our little, petite girl!

Height: 26in. (55%ile)

Head Circumference: 43cm. (70%ile)



We are glad everything is looking good with her and we don't go back again until she is 9 months old. It's cold and rainy here in Austin, so we will just have a relaxing day hanging out and playing around the house.

Check out our cutie during her bath the other night. I love the face she is making.



During breakfast earlier this week I couldn't resist snapping a shot. Love those big, blue eyes!

Go Saints!

Since the Cowboys didn't make it to the Super Bowl this year we decided to root for the Saints. Jason made a great dinner (lamb shank strognoff with turnips) and I made dessert (bread pudding with banana caramel sauce). We had my dad and our friends Joe and Sarah over to join in the festivities.



We were all glad to see the Saints win and are sad to say goodbye to another year of football...already counting the days til September.

Poppy and Aspen had some time to read some book before the game started.



Aspen was happy to see the Saints doing well (although she was long to bed before they actually won)!

Happy 6 Month Birthday!

Today Aspen turns 6 months old. When she was first born I would see other mom's in the store with their 6 month old and think to myself "Wow, I can't imagine Aspen being that big." Now she is and it's great. Everyone I talk to says the same thing..."this is the best age" and I agree! She's not quite old enough to get into to much trouble, but her personality has really blossomed.

What she has been up to this past month...

* She has her 6 month doctor's appointment next week and we will find out exactly how much she weighs then, but my guess is about 16lbs. She is wearing 6 month and 6-9month clothes mostly because of her length and not necessarily her girth. She is a long and lean little lady.



* You can't keep the girl on her back for more than a few seconds before she rolls right over. She has been able to roll for a while, but just in the past few weeks she has started to do it nonstop. I have even come into her room in the morning or after a nap and found her on her belly. This is funny to me because she hated "tummy time" up til now.

*She has started to really show interest in her toys. This has been more fun for Jason and I because we can actually "play" with her now. She has also started to sit on her own for a short period of time. If she has a toy in front of her she will stay their for a while.



*I've started getting into the habit of reading to her everyday. Usually this goes on toward the end of the night before getting ready for bed.

*She has started to try and figure out how to become more mobile. It's quite entertaining and interesting to watch her on her stomach trying to get a toy that's out of reach. Soon or later she will be on the move and I'll really have my hands full.



*She eats solids twice a day (breakfast and dinner) and continues to breastfeed for the rest of her meals. My initial goal for myself when it came to breastfeeding was to make it to 6 months...and I did! For me the process has been very easy and I love the bonding time I get with my little girl. My plan is to start bulking up on frozen milk so when the time comes to start weaning her we have reserves.

*She falls asleep every night on her own with minimal complaints. She still wakes up anywhere from 5am to 6am to eat (she goes to bed around 7:15pm to 7:30pm depending on how fast she eats). At least now I can put her back in her crib in the morning and she eventually goes back to sleep without crying--this is nice because I can get a little more sleep.

*If you watched the video on a post I did about a week ago you can see she has started to laugh a lot. We both love to hear her laughing and finding different things humorous. Hopefully she'll have a good sense of humor when she is older.



*Her and Bella have continued to become the best of buds. Really Aspen is just totally intrigued by Bella and Bella likes that Aspen has started to eat food. Bella will sit right next to her high chair waiting patiently for droppings of food. Without fail it happens! We will have to watch Bella and Aspen as she gets older making sure she doesn't feed Bella from the "table".



We are both cherishing these moments and love watching our daughter come into her personality.

**I took about 20 pictures this morning to get a good birthday shot. The first two pictures on this post were the best ones, all the rest look like these two. It's hard to get a photo when you have a wiggly little girl.