Christmas Day (part 1)

Cheyenne wearing her new coat to Gma & Gpa's.

Christmas Day we went out to my parents' for dinner. All the kids were there and Grandma and Grandpa P. and Grandma C. were also there. We ate a delicious lunch including the wonderful dessert of butterscotch and raisin cream pies Gma C. made! After dinner we played some Australian Rummy. We had to quit at 4:00 because the Eagles game was on! While the guys (and Cheyenne) watched the Eagles, Gma P., mom, Brittany, Staci and I played MAD GAB. Cheyenne gave this game to Brittany and Staci for Christmas! For those of you who don't know about MAD GAB, it is a game where the card says something like Eye Mull of Machine and you try to figure out what you hear instead of what it says. In this case it is I'm a love machine. It was fun! The girls were pretty good at figuring them out! Here are a few pictures of our day!

Dad and Gma C. after dinner.

Cheyenne loves pickles!

Matthew helping Gma play Australian Rummy.

The guys watching the game. Oh, and Cheyenne! She was in there for quite awhile with them!

Cheyenne's First Christmas

A tradition at my mom and dad's is to go to church on Christmas Eve and while we are at church Santa comes and then we go home and open gifts. This year church didn't start until 8 pm. We didn't get back to mom and dad's until about 10. It was late but Cheyenne still enjoyed opening her gifts. She didn't do a whole lot of opening. Mommy and Daddy did most of it for her. She was very spoiled. We only opened the ones from Grandma & Grandpa, Great Grandma & Grandpa, Matthew, Brittany and Staci. She still had more at home from Mommy and Daddy! And we haven't had Christmas with Grandma Goalden (Scott's mom) yet! She liked playing with the wrapping paper and her new toys, which included:

• Baby's First Christmas ornament
• Clothes
• Frog Bath toys
• One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish with a stuffed blue fish
• Money
• Plate, spoon and fork set
• Clothes
• CUTE coat
• Baseball swinging toy
• Clothes
• Stocking hat and mittens
• Socks
• Her first Piggy Bank
• And probably something I am forgetting!

This is the cute coat!

We were getting ready to change Cheyenne into her Pj's and she decided she wanted to dance to the Christmas music that was playing.

Christmas with Great Gma and Gpa Goalden

Saturday evening we went to McPherson for Christmas with Cheyenne's Great Grandma and Grandpa Goalden and family. We played games, ate lots of snacks and opened gifts. The adults do a fun gift exchange. We draw numbers and choose a gift in that order. You are allowed to steal someone else's gift when it is your turn. We keep going until a gift has been stolen 3 times! Most people eventually end up getting what they want. We had a good time!

Opening gifts

Daddy got a rocking, singing Santa! Cheyenne loved it!

Cheyenne in antlers!

I have cards!

I called Hutch Wal-Mart this morning and they still hadn't received the part to print my cards. I waited a few hours and called them again. Still no part. I called the customer service for walmart.com and they said they could resubmit my order to another Wal-Mart but they probably wouldn't be done until Friday at 4:00 pm. Scott was going to go shopping again so I checked with him to see what he wanted to do. He didn't really want to go somewhere else to pick them up. I thought maybe my sister would go to Great Bend after school and get them for me but Great Bend 1-hour photo wasn't running either. My only other options were McPherson or Salina. My mom said that her or my sister would go get them for me at McPherson. I transferred the order there and then remembered that my younger sister had a choir concert tonight. Brittany and dad were going to go and get them. Then Brittany ended up having to take yearbook pictures of the concert. So, my dad went and picked them up and just delivered them to me. He had a hard time getting them because he said they were under RaeAnn "Clark"! Hopefully you all receive them soon!

Still no Cards

Scott went back to Hutch this afternoon and they still hadn't received the part so my cards aren't done yet. My mom is there right now but no one is in the photo lab. It looks like I will be going to Hutch tomorrow or not sending out cards (in the meantime we are wasting quite a bit on gas driving back and forth).

Frustrated

Today Scott, Cheyenne and I went to Hutch. The reason we went was to pick up some photo Christmas cards I had done online in the 1-hour photo lab. I had ordered some last week and picked them up Saturday. Well, Scott didn't like them and didn't want me to send them out. So we took another picture and I made new ones. When we got to Walmart to get them today they were waiting on a new drum. My cards wouldn't be ready until 4:00 this afternoon! I have to be to work at 1:00.

Since we were going to Hutch, I needed to go to Goody's. A friend and I had gone Saturday and purchased a few things. They had a sale to take an extra 25% off of most things in the store. As we were leaving we noticed something else and decided to go to JcPenney's and then come back and get it. When I got home that night I noticed that I hadn't received the 25% off of my first purchase. I had received 25% off of everything in the second purchase. I called Adria Sunday and she said she didn't receive it either. She called the store and they said if we bring our stuff in they will give us the sale. So I took all the stuff and our receipts back today. After an hour in Goody's I came out with $6! (I was expecting $20) Evidentally the second cashier wasn't supposed to give us the 25% off of every item. We thought that since we had received it on everything on that purchase the first one should have been the same. She gave me money back on what she could and said that the cashier would be in trouble because she overrode the system to give us the 25%. So maybe in the long run we came out ahead.

I am now at work so Scott is going to have to go back to Hutch this afternoon to get my cards. Hopefully you all will be receiving them by the end of this week!

If not...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Curl

My mom watched Cheyenne a couple days last week and she always gives her a bath before I get there to pick her up. We always try to put a curl in her hair before it dries. Usually it doesn't stay until morning but the curl that grandma did stayed! It was still there when we went to work the next day.

Here is Cheyenne at work with me with the curl still in her hair

Cheyenne is very curious these days. I think she eventually pulled everything out of the diaper bag!

Hands & Feet

Hands and feet are an interesting thing to babies. Cheyenne found them both awhile back but has recently enjoyed sticking her feet in her mouth.

It is quite interesting to watch her. I wish that I was that flexible! Although I don't think I would want to put my feet in my mouth!

The things babies do amaze me! I just sat there watching her and taking pictures for several minutes!

Questions

Ok...I couldn't think of anything inparticular to talk about today so I will answer the questions Staci tagged me.


A - Available or single: neither
B - Best Friend: Scott, my brother and sisters; besides family, my roomies from Colby - Lana, Martina and Mandy
C - Cake or Pie: pie or DQ ice cream cake
D - Drink of choice: water, apple juice, orange juice, peach or raspberry tea, or sprite
E - Essential Item you use everyday: toothbrush
F - Favorite color: yellow or blue
G - Gummy Bears or worms: both
H - Hometown: Bushton, Kansas (address was Lyons, Kansas but claimed Bushton as home because I went to school there)
I - Indulgence: chocolate, ice cream
J - January or February: February - it's closer to spring
K - Kids & Names: Cheyenne
L - Life is Incomplete Without? God, family
M - Marriage Date: September 25, 2004
N - Number of Siblings: 1 brother & 2 sisters
O - Oranges or Apples: apples
P - Phobias or Fears: losing a close family member
Q - Fave Quote: "I Do" - Scott Hayes, 9/25/04
R - Reason to Smile: Cheyenne
S - Season: Spring
T - Tag 3 or 4 people: Martina, Sonya, Jennifer, Kaley (I don't have very many friends blogging) U - Unknown Fact about Me: I was born with an extra finger and extra toe. They removed them at the hospital when I was born and I don't have any pictures to prove it but I do have scars and you can feel a little bit of the bone.
V- Vegetable You Don't Like: honestly, I can't think of one
W - Worst Habit: it's not a real bad one but it's one I can't break - playing with my hair...I have always played with my curls
X - Xrays: scope of my knee
Y - Your Fave Food: I like all kinds, Chinese, Mexican, Italian and of course a good homecooked meal...most things as long as I don't have to cook them!
Z - Zodiac Sign: aries

Santa

Sunday afternoon we took Cheyenne uptown in Lyons to go see Santa. "Santa" was actually my Uncle Marlin. This made it extra special. She wasn't scared at all. She sat on his lap and just looked at him.

She turned her head as I took the picture and I was a little disappointed she did but after looking at the picture this is my favorite!

QH basketball

For those of you who saw all the pictures and posts about QH Volleyball...get ready for QH Basketball!!! My dad is the head coach and both of my sisters play. Although there aren't as many games that I will be able to go to but I will go to the weekend tournaments when I can. Hopefully they go to Sub-state and state in basketball too! They went to sub-state last year so they have a good chance this year too since they didn't lose any players.

Saturday QH played in the Tescott tournament. They played Tescott and won 73-11!!! Brittany had 12 points and was 100% (6 for 6). I think Staci had 4 points. The both did well. They also played some in the JV game and won it 63-30.

QH girls and boys both won the Tescott Tournament! It was an exciting night!

Friends and Shopping

Sunday we went to Wichita to hopefully start and finish Christmas shopping. Well, we got a good start but didn't quite finish. We're close though. While at the mall we stopped to get a Julius. Cheyenne loved it and learned to suck it out of a straw!

After the mall we went to see some friends from college that we hadn't seen for awhile. It was so good to see them. Martina and I were in the same sweet at Colby and then lived together in an apartment our sophomore year. We had a blast together! I miss her. It is nice that we live close now. Although we still don't see each other all that often. Since we all moved away and have careers and families it is more difficult to find a time that works for everyone to get together. We are hoping to all get together with some other roommates over Christmas.

Rafael and Martina Ruiz and Cheyenne

Grandma's Birthday

Saturday was my mom's birthday. They had their work Christmas party that night so Cheyenne and I went to see her that morning. I had Cheyenne "write" in a special Grandma card to give to my mom. She thought it was weird receiving a card that said "To Grandma" when she is usually buying those types of cards! Cheyenne helped my mom read her birthday cards!

My mom was happy that she got to see us on her birthday...her first birthday as a grandma! Cheyenne made it special. Here's to many more special happy birthdays!

St. Louis

Friday night we decided to drive to St. Louis and see the Arch and then we would only have an 8 hour drive home on Saturday instead of 12. We thought that maybe the Arch would still be open and we could look out over the city at night but we got there at 9:00 and it closed at 6:00. We walked around by the Arch and then took a carriage ride around downtown St. Louis. It was a nice evening and we enjoyed our last night of our vacation.

This is us down by the river by the Arch. ( I didn't get a very good picture of the Arch because it was dark)

Scott and I in the carriage.

I will leave you with a couple other pictures of Chicago.

Navy Pier

Me on Navy Pier with Chicago in the background.

Scott and I by a boat dock on Lake Shore Drive.

Friday in Chicago

Friday was the day we decided to do everything. We got up fairly early and went to the Shedd Aquarium. They had dolphins, whales, sharks and lots of other small fish and sea creatures, some of them very interesting.

These are huge crabs! We couldn't use the flash so some of the pictures are dark.

This was a bright pink star fish!

After the aquarium we walked to the Navy Pier. It was about a 3 mile walk. After the walk we were starving and decided to eat at Bubba Gump's on Navy Pier.

This is us infront of Bubba Gump's. It was good. We both had a "Bucket of Trash". It was shrimp, lobster and Mahi Mahi.

Then we walked around the Navy Pier and were going to take a boat ride out on Lake Michigan but it was sold out. We decided to take a cab back to get our truck. We had parked at Soldier Field and they were having a high school game there so we asked if we could go in. They let us in for free since we parked there. It was cool to see the stadium.

Inside Soldier Field (Home of the Chicago Bears)

I have a few other pictures to post but I will do it on my next blog. We went to St. Louis Friday night so look for that tomorrow.

Chicago

Scott and I left for Chicago about 10:15 am Wednesday. We took Cheyenne out to my parents' and then left from there. It was hard to leave her but knew she was in good hands. We got to Chicago about 10:30 that night. The flow of traffic was 85 mph and people were still passing us! So we made pretty good time! We found a hotel in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we got up early and headed down town to watch the parade. It was a nice parade, a little cold, but ok. The blown up characters look a lot bigger on tv than they did in person. Here are a few pictures of the parade.

This is the biggest rubberband ball in the world! The snow man and Christmas tree are made out of rubberband balls too.

The Nutcracker on horseback.

Miss Illinois in her pink Hummer.

After the parade we walked down on the Navy Pier but most things were closed. So we went back to the hotel and decided to go back on Friday. We did a lot on Friday so I will post that info. later.

Shopping

Saturday Cheyenne and I went shopping with my mom and sisters. We had a good time and I was able to get a few Christmas presents and some new jeans for our trip. We had fun shopping. Here are a few pictures of our day!

Aunt Brittany thought she needed to try on the slippers!

She loved the baby section! She is sitting in a bin of little girls panties I think. We got some Christmas gifts for her too! She won't be lacking presents under the tree!

New way to get around

When Cheyenne was at work with me I put her in the bouncy seat when I needed to take her in the other room to clean up and stuff. Well, one day she leaned over the side of it when she she dropped one of her toys. She didn't fall out but I figured that was enoughf of that one. Then I used the Bumbo thinking she woud sit in it and play. That didn't last long at all. The first day I had her in it she arched her back and about tipped her and the Bumbo over backwards. Now I wasn't sure what I was going to do. Staci K. suggested a stroller. So, here is our new way to entertain her.

It works pretty good. She sits in it while I clean and I can push her around when she gets fussy and can also push her and leave my hands free to carry other things.

Here are a few pictures of her at work with me the last couple days.

Someone paid for their membership and Cheyenne took the money. That-a-girl! Go for the big bucks!

She was excited about something!

Is she winking?

Nursing

We've decided to leave Cheyenne with my parents while we go on a little vacation over Thanksgiving. Since I am still nursing I was concerned how Cheyenne would do without being nursed. So yesterday I didn't nurse her at all. I gave her cereal and a bottle in the morning and then my mom fed her lunch. My mom said she was really good at her house. When I got to my mom's at 9:30 to pick her up, I gave her a bottle. She fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep. She didn't get up until 8:15 this morning. Now if she can just do that for 4 or 5 days while we are gone.

Of course, the down side to this is that I have to pump more often. I think I pumped 3 times yesterday. It will be fun to try and fit in pumping while we are gone. The morning and night one won't be bad, the middle one will be the tough one. I can usually go about 9 hours or so. We'll see.

Don't get too excited with this picture! I got her to stand up sort of leaning against the bed so I could get a picture of her cowgirl shirt and boots!

She will stand up very briefly if you put her in that position holding on to something.

Teenagers

We had some excitement at our house about 8:40 Saturday night. We were watching tv and heard some kids talking outside. They were in the alley by our house. I didn't turn the porch light on to see who it was. Then all of a sudden they hit our front door. We jumped up, opened the door but no one was there. Scott went to the end of the porch and could see them running down the alley. So, reverting to the cop he used to be, he grabbed his shoes and chased after them. They had gone in different directions so he chased some of them down the alley going North. He caught one of them and made him come back to our house. Then one of them was riding a bike and rode back by our house. Scott told him "In my hard, NOW". He told them that they had woken Cheyenne up and they didn't need to be hanging around here and made them call their parents to come pick them up. I knew both of the boys through the rec. They said they didn't do it but didn't know who did. You can't tell me that they were all together and they didn't see who came up on our porch and hit our door. One of the boys' mom came and picked him up and Scott took the other one home. His parents weren't at home so he took him to his mom's work. He had the boy show him where the other kids lived and Scott went to talk to their parents. None of them were at home. Most of them were at the bar! That's why these kids are out causing trouble!

When Scott got to one of the kid's house the other boy was there too. Scott said they were pretty scared. He told them he would be back Sunday evening to visit with their parents. When I found out who these kids were I knew them too from the rec. Scott asked them if they knew his wife. They didn't. He asked them if they've ever been to the rec and they said they had and Scott said that I was his wife. One of them was like "Oh, man!"

Scott found a couple cops sitting up town and talked to them about it. He told them that he had advised the boys of trespassing (he had a cop word for it). If they step foot on our property again they will go to Bob Johnson's (I didn't know what that was and neither did the boys). It is the boys' home.

I don't know if they were playing Ding-Dong Ditch or if they just thought it would me funny since they were standing there. My guess is they won't do it again though. I bet they never imagined someone would come chasing after them and show up at their house! Some of them may not come up to the rec for awhile either!

Cheyenne laughing

Cheyenne was helping me hang up clothes yesterday and thought it was petty funny!

Sleeping Comfortably?!

Yesterday Cheyenne was sitting on the living room floor playing while I was trying to pay some bills. She started to get fussy and I just talked to her and told her I was about done and we'd go bye-bye. (We had PAT playgroup at LRC) She got quiet so I thought she was just playing. I looked up and she was asleep! She was sitting on the floor and leaned down on her toys and went to sleep. Can you sleep like that? I had to pick her up because it didn't look comfortable at all. Who knows how long she would have slept like that!

Momma's Girl

Lately Cheyenne has been a little fussy. We think it is mainly because she is teething again but she has also shown us that she is a momma's girl. She is with me all the time, at home, at work, when we go anywhere. If she can see me and talk to me she is usually ok. I have to put her in her chair in the kitchen a lot when I am cooking so she can see me. It is very evident when someone else is holding her and she is crying and as soon as I take her she smiles. It is kind of funny but really isn't because now we are going to have to break her of just wanting momma.

Here is a picture of her wanting to be picked up.

Bumbo

A couple people have suggested putting Cheyenne in a Bumbo. We actually have one but she doesn't fit in it very well. Ever since we got it several months ago, she has been too chunky or something. Her thighs just don't fit right. It says it is for like 4 months to 14 months or something like that. We got it out and tried to put her in it again this weekend. As you can tell, he left leg just doesn't fit in it. We put it down in there but it was a little tight. She sat in it for awhile but not real long. She did have fun playing with her toes while sitting in it though!

Do you notice the teething ring she is chewing on? We had a rough weekend with her drooling a lot and being fussy. We were up once in the night Saturday and twice Sunday night. Orajel and baby motrin seemed to help some. She liked the cold teething ring too but it just doesn't stay cold very long.

I thought maybe I could take the Bumbo to work for her to sit in when she goes with me into another room to wipe down machines or something. Her ability to sit up has outgrown the bouncer. Maybe we just need to get a walker. Any suggestions?