Luna had a fun day today visiting her cousin Evelyn at her home. She was so nice to Luna and shared all of her toys with her, as Luna kept wanting to put everything in her mouth!  Her tooth is still making it's appearance slowly but surely. I completely forgot to take any pictures of them together, but hopefully we will see them again soon!


As I was going through my pictures on my computer, I could not believe how much Luna's hair has changed just this past month!! I mean, I know it's been falling out but the change is unbelievable! Check out the pics one month between each other below:


Luna on October 16th:

Luna November 15th:

So I was all set to order our Christmas cards this year, Luna's first Christmas! I was going to use a photographer's website, but then our friend Jack's mom down the street told us about a promotion they were having for bloggers to get 50 free cards form Shutterfly!!! So I immediately clicked on the link: http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/ and entered the give-away. I have used Shutterfly in the past for photobooks and just loved how they turned out with their awesome quality of prints. I also love their Calendars you can make with your photos and give as gifts to family. Now that I have Luna, it's the perfect holiday gift! Another great gift idea they have is to put your favorite photos on a Shutterfly mug- I'm sure Luna' grandparents will love drinking coffee each morning looking at their adorable grandchild!

I love the Christmas card options that Shutterfly offers, and there are so many amazing formats to choose from, I can't decide!  I know I am definitely going for the option that lets you post 3-4 pictures on a card, as it's just too hard to pick one cute picture to send out of her :) We found the perfect Christmas dress for little Luna and can't wait to share it with everyone in her Shutterfly Christmas card. Here are a few of my favorites they offer, which one do you like the best?:

Luna all geared up in her new Adidas gear! All warm and toasty for the cold weather. 
 She had a great weekend with lots of adventures yesterday as we ran a few errands and visited her friend Tinsley, and sister Ava.  
Today Todd was off work so we got more Christmas decorations up and ventured out to find a new TV stand. Luna is sitting up more and more on her own now and pretty soon she'll be crawling- we knew that our little Ikea stand that has all the wires sticking out wasn't going to be very baby proofed! And after all the Thanksgiving food, I was so glad I was able to hit the gym today. Not quite the workouts I used to do as I end up always rushing back home for Luna, but I think I got my heart rate up a little bit.
Todd also was able to put together Luna's high chair. She's been arching her back to get out of the Bumbo- her feeding chair lately- so it was time to roll out the big one. She looks so tiny sitting in it, but sooo cute!!

Awh, so another first for Luna. Her first Thanksgiving! We started the day with my family tradition of going to the Turkey Trot downtown. Luckily it wasn't too cold and no rain. We had Luna all bundled up in the jogger stroller and she passed out after we hit mile 1. It was hard dodging all the people in the stroller so Todd took over the driving duties. Our friend Karen joined us with her dog Cali and we jogged/walked most of it because it was so crowded, like 50,000 people! It felt good to be out and celebrating Thanksgiving with all the Dallasites, puts you in the spirit and feels good to be able to gorge out at dinner after our big workout.

As we started our cooking today, she was so enthralled in all the commotion and cooking going on in the kitchen and loved all the extra attention from us.  We dressed her in a new outfit that finally fits her that she got at her baby shower. It's a cute little brown toile with pink ruffles, perfect Fall Thanksgiving outfit! We had a small dinner with Aunt Erika and her friend Josh, as our families all went out of town for the holiday and Todd has to work tomorrow, boo!  Our cousin Meghan came over later and Erika's friend Nicole came for a visit. 


So back to the cooking, we were nervous about the turkey in our old oven since it's Circa 1956! I brined it the night before, and roasted it, praying it would not overcook.  The oven used to be Pepto Bismal pink and the previous owners painted it black. We have plans to put in a new one, but they made them so small back then, that a new one won't fit, so we have to do some remodeling. Luckily the turkey turned out okay, not too overdone as it typically does.
We served mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, stuffing, rolls from Bubbas, salad and 2 pies, pumpkin and apple. It was actually pretty good, but I was so tired from the Trot, cooking and being up in the middle of the night with Luna (teething) that I was falling asleep at the table!  The funniest moment was when we were getting the food on our plates and Erika goes, 'Josh, what did you just put on your turkey? Did you just pour Kira's Pumpkin Latte coffee on your turkey?' He was like 'Yes, it's in a mug with a spoon in it and I thought it was the gravy!' I was rolling on the floor laughing, he must have thought our gravy was pretty watery!! I guess I should have moved my coffee mug away from the turkey platter.


We watched both games, Cowboys and the Texas game and this is just not our year! Come on Texas!! National Champs game last year and now no bowl game?? And while we were watching the games we saw little Luna rolling around on the mat and almost turning over. She's been standing and bearing weight on her legs since she was 6 weeks old and sitting well with a little assistance since 5 months, but not quite rolling over- which we are not complaining about since we don't have to worry about her sleeping on her face and rolling off a sofa, but she is almost there! And she looks like she is just about to crawl as she scoots and moves her little legs, getting frustrated she can't quite get to where she wants. We have a video of her rolling below. Oh and we completely forgot to take a family Thanksgiving photo- between Luna sleeping and fussy to us being tired, next thing you know Luna is down for the night! Oh and you may have noticed the Christmas decorations in the photos, I know it's early but now that I have Luna I have to take every opportunity I can get for people to watch her so I can get the decorations out- taking care of Luna alone and decorating the tree? Recipe for disaster!

My 1950's oven! See the baby pink peeking through the paint?

It's like an Easy Bake, seriously!

Luna just woke up and her mommy is about to pass out!

Aunt E

Josh and Luna

Cousin Meghan, go Horns!

Nicole and Luna 

Sweet Luna woke up and got dressed in her new Dachshund outfit that her Aunt Sherry bought her. She is so snugly soft in it! So as she was playing, as I do every morning, I checked her gums since she's been teething like crazy these past 3 months, drooling and putting everything in sight in her mouth. But I've noticed the past 2 weeks she has not been drooling as much, so I was wondering what the heck was going on. Sure enough I felt the first little piece of hard tooth breaking through her lower gums! It is on her lower left and should be making its appearance soon. It's kind of microscopic so no photo ops yet.


This photo is so cute of her in her dachshund gear and matching socks, notice her toy trying to escape down her leg.

Luna and I ventured up to meet miss Carmen and her husband Mish today. She is pregnant and due March 4th and Luna can't wait to have sweet baby Mila to play with soon!  She had fun visiting and playing with Carmen and her niece, Bella.  
We then came home to relax from a fun day, then met our friends Brad, Michelle and their new 2 week-old baby girl, Quinn for a walk. They live down the street in the next neighrborhood, the L Streets. We ventured down to pick up their son Mitch from his daycare down the street. He was so happy to see his mommy and daddy and they pulled him home in his red wagon.

Auntie Carmen

Bella and Luna

Baby Quinn

Friday the 19th Luna and I headed out for a playdate at the Arboretum to see Hedy, Kim and Penelope.  Hedy has 2 twin boys and Kim had little Leah- all of them very mobile and enjoyed running around while Luna laughed at them all!  They had a great time!
Friday was also my dad's birthday, and Luna and I greeted him for dinner at Cafe R + D with my sister and step-mom.  The food was great but Luna was getting super tired by 7pm so I had to walk her around outside to calm her down. Our reservation was at 6pm, but I have learned next time we need to bump it to 5:30pm to make it easier on all of us!  Plus the fact that their booths are not baby friendly and they only have high chairs for babies that are sitting up well! 
Saturday was a full day of mommy, Aunt E, Sherry and my mom getting pedicures, much needed as I had not had one since Luna was born!  Then my dad, Aunt E and I made our way all over Dallas, running errands, shopping, heading to the downtown Neiman's for their Christmas Tree lighting and see my friend Karen who lives across the street, to shopping for Luna and then dinner at 5:30pm!!  It was quite a day and Luna set a record for being in and out of her carseat the most that day!!

Arboretum

Luna sporting her Track Girl gear at the Arboretum, check out her Vans

Todd had the day off today, so we were able to both go to her 6 month check-up.  Luna was right on target with everything and her doctor said she was just 'perfect.' Here are her stats:


Weight: 16 pounds, 50%th percentile
Length: 25.5 cm, 50% percentile
Head: 42 cm, 25% percentile


She is sitting up on her own but still needs assistance, but so cute when she tries to sit on her own and get frustrated when she starts to lean over :)  She is babbling, cooing, blowing raspberries, liking her tummy time more and loves to giggle and smile! 6 months is such a cute age!! She also had to have a flu shot today and a DTaP but did really well and no side effects. Todd and I both got the nasal flu shot too just so we don't give anything to little Luna.


Abuelo Richard (for those reading and wondering, he is Todd's dad who was named Abuelo by his other grandkids Rey and Carolyn) stopped by on his way to Oklahoma City this afternoon, and we were able to have a nice dinner at Campania's pizza and Luna just loved seeing him and enjoyed his visit. Usually Luna has not been feeling well after having her shots or teething when he comes and is always crying but she did really well and was in good spirits this time!

So I forgot to add the cutest picture of Todd with Luna in a Baby Bounce class last week.  He was off work on a weekday and I had him come with us to the class at Northpark where the teacher sings songs and has the babies clap and play little rattle music instruments.  Luna loves it and I think Todd had entered a whole new world he had no idea existed!..lol.. 

Oh and check out my tomato plant I am so proud of. It FINALLY bloomed. A little too late in the season but I have 2 tomatoes growing on it. I also have basil, rosemary, dill, taragon and mint.

Luna had a good day today with shopping at Target and taking some good naps, but still not in her crib! I tried several times to get her to go to bed in her crib as I would put her down in it fast asleep but she would wake up immediately screaming bloody murder!  So back to my room she went.  My next idea is to get her used to her new mattress and maybe take it out of the crib and lay on it with her to get used to it. Yeah, I know, people want me to let her cry it out, but listening to a screaming child, not a whimper but a scream, is just too much.  It will have to be a gradual thing I guess.  But check out her first sippy cup experience today below.  I am more of a fan of her drinking from a regular cup, I don't like babies relying on sippy cups too much because they get buck teeth, bottle rot and don't learn the correct way to drink from a cup- plus, hello! I didn't have a sippy cup as a kid and got used to a real cup at an early age.  So I think we will just use them out at restaurants and in the stroller, etc but at home try a real kid cup as much as possible.

I am just in shock that Luna is 6 months old today!! I mean, it is so unbelievable that 6 months have already gone by and she is celebrating her half birthday.  6 months has always been a big milestone, that's when solids are supposed to start, they start to sit up, can start crawling, start having their personalities start coming out and thankfully can have their flu shots and take medicine if they get sick.  
AND the biggest, according to Dr. Sears, their chance of getting SIDS lowers a lot which he suggests is a good time to move them to their own crib.  Yes, she has napped in her crib a few times but has still been sleeping in our room. I freaked out when I read research and Dr. Sears recommended babies sleep near their moms the first 6 months, due to their weak respiratory systems and how studies have shown that when babies have slow breathing, and they are near their mom they breathe better- they learn to mimic mom's breathing and it's just some amazing natural tendency that babies have when their are near their moms, so fascinating!!  So, needless to say, we are going to start moving Luna to her crib. It will be a long process but hopefully we can all get through it without too many tears!
As for Luna's bday today, we went to a free Baby sign language class this morning that I just found out about yesterday.  Last minute planning and a long drive to the class, but hey, it was free!!  It was a really cool class taught by a special Ed teacher.  I remember one mom I used to nanny for who used signs with her baby and it was so cool how fast they learn, since they can sign way earlier than they can learn to talk.  We learned a few easy signs today such as 'eat', 'more', 'hot', 'hurt', etc. and we have a cool book to use and can't wait to start using them with her and have her sign back to us! We then spent the afternoon with my mom and Aunt E, and Luna played extra hard today. After her cereal feeding, she went to bed at 7pm! Whew!

Luna in her highchair, wearing the adorable smocked dress from her Aunt Beverly