Trick or Treat..or Goldfish

Lexa wouldn't let a cold keep her from joining the festivities. Halloween day had warmed up quite a bit so I layered our little princess. Last year she refused to wear her costume but this year wasn't a problem with her beautiful dress, wings, tiara and wand. I think based on her daily outfits, it's really been Halloween everyday since her birthday heh.

Ready to go!

Come on! Let's go!

First house done, more to go!

Sitting looking at the haul

I had asked Lexa if she would share, she quickly looked over the pile and kindly gave me... the little bag of goldfish crackers. Smart girl!

Bringing Joy and Harmony into the house.

Sure our lil angel brings joy into our lives, but last weekend while in town I bought something I've wanted to for a long time, a Build-A-Bear... well, two of them. One for the Momma and one for the Bubba!

If you've never been, I highly recommend preparing for a high energy super happy place, bless the people who work there and spend a larger amount of time than I did simply purchasing the bears. It's a great place to visit.. in short stints. So, I picked out a silver ear and foot lined bear carcass for Alexiss and a Canadian flat bear for me, or rather, for my car, onto the stuffing and outfits goes I. Shoes, jackets, backpacks, and yes, even pjs and boxer gitch for these lil darlings! I stayed cool and managed to limit myself to one outfit, one pair of shoes and one jacket for each, but you bet your sweet bippy I'll be heading in again for PJs and gitch in the next few months. The line up to stuff said flat carcasses was full of excited lil kidlets just waiting to bring their bears to life. I watched as each one went up to the stuffing machine employee, flat bears in their arms and big smiles on their faces, I'm sure some of them were not first timers, like me. In goes the stuffing, it's the magic that happens after that makes these bears sooo special. Build-A-Bear employees ask the future owner and best friend of the bear to go and pick out a little felt stuffy heart from the front of the machine. When the child returns they are asked to man handle the heart, rub it on their ears so their new friend will always hear them, rub it on their heart so they know they are loved, rub it on their tummy so they don't get hungry and close to last, jump up and down to get it's heart pumpin! And last but not least, close their eyes and make a wish. Oh yes, my dear friends and family, this old Momma, with no kid present.. went through the same ritual and you know, it did lift my heart a little and it DID make the bear just that much more special (just ask Alexiss). My wish as I closed both eyes and held both hearts tighter was simple, "Love Always, Always Love".



As soon as I got home, Alexiss and Joy were inseparable....and then she spotted Harmony and now they are a threesome. Needless to say, Harmony never made it to my car and is still keeping bearable warm in the house.

We have another child from the neighborhood coming over for home care with Olive, Lauren. Lauren is a few months older than Alexiss. It's all going well, poor Olive, and Alexiss is learning to share her toys and her "Olive". I really think it's good for her, although she's still not totally settled with the whole concept in just one week, but Lauren has gone as far as to brush Alexiss's hair, to which Alexiss was totally perplexed, but didn't get up and move away.

We almost have "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" nailed down. Alexiss surprised us by showing us her head a little while back, she quickly mastered "toes" like a natural. Knees was a little more abstract for her, but it still only took a few days. This weekend we start "shoulders". Pretty soon we'll be a'singin and a'dancin the famous song complete with actions!

Last weekend Alexiss pointed to an apple in the fruit bowl, not thinking anything of it besides exploring, gave it to her. Alexiss proceeded to start chomping on the apple! It was still round enough that her teeth scrapped off more than allowing her to bite chunks of, so have-at-her!

Bedtime music

Last night I wanted something different than Corb Lund, so I played my Faerie music from Fairy HeartMagic by Gary Stadler with Stephanne.

l've searched the mountains, the forest and the sea,
Seeking the homeland, of my memories.
Haunted by visions, longing like the sea,
Time passes by me, and still l am not free.
Lift the veil of Elphame, let me see the light
Lift the veil of Faerie, guide me home tonight
How can I soar alone, when my wings are at rest?
I yearn to be there in the land of the bless'd
So light me a candle, watch the dark shadows fade.

And I must journey on, for the choice 1 have made
Lift the veil of Elphame, let me see the light
Lift the veil of Faerie, take me home tonight
My lone heart guides brings me home through the night
Carries me onward, and into the light
To wander the shadows, to see the truth from afar,
To sigh in the moonlight dancing magic of stars.
Lift the veil of Elphame, let me see the light
Lift the veil of Faerie, guide my way tonight

Oh me! Oh! My!

Since we don't have any kind of television plan Alexiss watches some shows through Netflix and bought DVDs. Last week, while shopping at Toys R Us I noticed some DVDs on sale and bought some updated Blues Clues for her and spotted a show called Bunnytown. BIG HIT (with Alexiss and with the Momma and Daddy).

Here's Pinky Pinkerton! A portion of Bunnytown, there's also singing dancing puppet rabbit and two silly men like old silent movies (no video of the two men on youtube, sorry).

Calming the beast within

It's been a rough week for both Alexiss and I, she's not wanting to eat or sleep which means, in the end, both of us cranky and moody, don't get me wrong, she is napping, and she is eating but both aren't as enjoyable as they can be. While I was putting her down for her morning nap yesterday, all I could think about was having the time to have a hot breakfast of a fried egg on toast. What I got was an awake Alexiss and PB on bread.

Last night I decided to try tapping into our primal spirits, letting them free as well as soothing them with music. I downloaded some tribal beats and some Chakra meditations, and I'm relieved that she seemed to be reacting to both.

I played the tribal beat this morning, which had us both swaying and dancing.



Then for her nap I played the soothing meditation music and she's soundly, peacefully sleeping.... mmmm, maybe not.... she's stirring... bah, I hope there's some left over dinner in the fridge for me instead of having ANOTHER PB on bread meal. Gah...

Baby tv a la you tube!

See the things I can get into when Alexiss is calm, silly kid video's on you tube! I think I like these more than she does. I never want to assume that some things cause other's with Alexiss, it's so hard to know for sure, but I must say, she's even eating better! And last night on her play mat she wanted to lie on her side and not play!

This clip is purely selfish, I remember stumbling across PJ Katie on tv when I was in college the first time and thinking WTF!...then quickly loving the show, even as an adult!



Hallllooooo ShEEEEEp!

The Happiest Baby on the Block!

I just have to RAVE about Dr Karp and the book The Happiest Baby on the Block. Well, I didn't get a chance to read the book, but Dr Karp is a smart man and made a DVD (with a CD of soothing sounds) too! Today I finally got a chance to watch it and I really wish I'd watched it sooner! It's literally magic and transforms babies into calm comforted bundles from wailing fuss budgets!

I'd heard about it and thought it sounded like nothing special, and nothing extra than what I've been doing. I was right, but he really shows you technique for things we already know calm babies and the result is that it takes less than 2 minutes to soothe Alexiss instead of hours or portions of hours. The video actually shows it working instantly on some babies, they go from wailing messes to fine at the snap of my fingers!



So it perfects swaddling, shushing and swinging (bouncing or jiggling) adds in the colic side or upside down hold and finishes it off with suckling (the five s's). I know, what's the big deal, right? Do all those things now and it helps a bit, but not enough? Well put away that gripe water and slap me silly, but by the end of watching the DVD it had already soothed Alexiss more than doing these things even an hour before, with his little finishing touches! Better yet, it's things I already knew how to do so it's not something total foreign that takes watching over and over and trying a few times to get it just right!

Happy Birthday Gramma!

In honor of Gramma's Birthday, I'm posting a picture taken when Alexiss was born and my Mom came to visit.



It's hard being so far away, she's growing so quick! This past Thursday and Friday she was eating a LOT, so I decided to use the Wii to weigh her this weekend and she surprised us by weighing in at 9.5 lbs! No wonder why she was hungry! So, I've recalculated how much she should be eating and we're feeding our growing girl! The good news is that she's started to monitor herself and now doesn't seem to be gorging and overfilling herself. It makes it a lot easier to trust her when she tells me she's still hungry.

She's changing so much! The new cry is actually a cry to go back to sleep, so I bundle her up and rock her until she settles. I swear her real hair is coming in, you see, she's been bald for about two weeks or more with a fringe of hair along her neck... like an old man's mullet, lol, but now her crown is filling in with dark hair.

Today our music was Cat Stevens



..okay, this only took me two hours. lol Time to get her settled enough so "I can start dinner for once.

Jim Henson's The Storyteller - Stone Soup

It was a bit of a rough night, but after three good days and two good nights.. who's complaining! Certainly not me! Poor Mark though, I knew he wasn't working today so I enlisted his help, sometimes (okay, not sometimes.. usually) his aura is more calm than mine and it seems to calm her down a bit easier. She tends to feed feed feed at night to get ready for a good night's sleep, we try to space it so we can measure what she's eating and give her time to digest what she just had. Last night after she finished fussing and eating, she wanted juuuust one more, so I gave in, and you know she took three sips and quickly fell asleep! Then she slept for 5 1/2 hours! Of course, mamma doesn't get to sleep that long with getting her settled as she half dozes and getting things prepared for the next feeds, but it was a good sleep. I'm starting to love weekends with Mark home to help... once I gave up my need to control.... now I get one time a day on weekends to wake up without having to worry about Alexiss and what she wants before I can open my eyes and run to the bathroom. Today I am happy to say I picked up my knitting and knit a few rows instead of spacing out on the computer!

I swear in the past few days she's been trying to laugh! Tummy time is still a little rough going but we'll get there.



Today we watched Jim Henson's The Storyteller - A short story on youtube. The Storyteller usually puts a new spin on old favorites.. because that's what storytellers do. This one features the storyteller himself and tells a tale of his hard times, it also includes him making stone soup! I'm sad I can't embed the video, but there's always a magic link! Click click!

A little about Alexiss

Alexiss has become a Corb Lund fan! The tempo and Corb`s voice soothe her when she`s fussy, she loves when I tap out the beat on her bum. Here`s a sample of Corb.



Mark loves to sing her too, his choices are usually; Neil Diamond, a sample of his Christian favorites with groups like Needtobreathe and the song `Wondering Where the Lions Are`by Bruce Cockburn.

She`s starting to learn how to use her arms and hands; reaching out to the hanging toys and mirror on her play mat and the illustrations of her new book `Just the way you are`by Max Lucado. For some reason I find special delight watching her try to suck her thumb, when her hand just won`t move right, she moves her head and uses her other hand to help guide her thumb to her mouth.

With our new lease on life (thanks to Zantac) Alexiss has started to enjoy her waking hours and she thanks us with smiles! Mark got the first few smiles but I`m starting to get them now too. She`s also starting to move her head to follow us and watch us, yesterday I played `follow me`and she had so much fun! While she was in Mark`s arms I walked to one side and called her name and she smiled, then I slowly walked behind him to the other side and she followed me the entire time!

During our daily feed, awake and normal interactions I usually call her Bubba or Beauty, depending on my mood and her demeanor.

I love the little mmmuahahaha sound she makes when she`s verbal and just starts sucking on her soother or bottle. Sad to say it`s usually when she`s crying.

Gypsy - Wiccan Lullaby

Heaven's gift to me just the way you are,
A new aged child from a distant star.
It feels so good just to be
So close to your love. You are heaven's gift to me.

You are so sweet and pure just the way you are.
Mama's precious jewel. Daddy's rising star.
There's so much in life for you to see.
And so much to be. You are Heaven's gift to me.

La la la la la la, la la la la la,
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la,
La la la la la, la la la la,
La la la la la, la la la la la la la

Heaven's gift to me just the way you are,
A new aged child always in my heart.
There's so much in life for you to be,
And so much to see. You are heaven's gift to me.

La la la la la la, la la la la la,
La la la la la, la la la la la,
La la la la la la, la la la la la,
La la la la la, la la la la la la la.

La la la la la la, la la la la la,
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la,
There's so much in life for you to see,
And so much to be. You are heaven's gift to me

Spirit of the Plants by Lisa Thiel from the Journey to the Goddess CD

The spirit of the plants
Has come to me
In the form of a beautiful
Dancing green woman
(Repeat)

Her eyes filled me
With peace
Her dance filled me
With peace
(Repeat)

The spirit of the plants
Has come to me
In the form of a beautiful
Dancing green woman
(Repeat)

Her eyes filled me
With peace
Her dance filled me
With peace
(Repeat)

The spirit of the plants
Has come to me
And has blessed me
With great peace
(Repeat)

Her eyes filled me
With peace
Her dance filled me
With peace
(Repeat)

The spirit of the plants
Has come to me
In the form of a beautiful
Dancing green woman

Blackbird

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All you life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise