My dad came up to visit Luna for the holidays for a few days. When he arrived, my friend Euie from high school and college was visiting with her new baby Max (2 months) and Izzy (3) from Austin.

After they left, my dad and I hung out at my house and Aunt E came over. We then decided to explore Dallas' shopping, and first hit Froggie 5 and 10. He bought her the same record player I had as a child, The Fisher Price Record Player (They make 'Classic' versions now) and a Hello Kitty doll-very similar to the one I used to have.

After walking around and looking at all the little shops off Knox Henderson, we headed to dinner at MiCo- the Lake Highlands one is very family friendly!
The next day we headed out to visit Aunt Amy and Grandma and Devin in Valley View, TX. We were so glad to see them as it has been awhile!  We weren't able to make it to the Hultsman family Christmas Eve celebration so we were glad to make it out to see them. Hopefully we can see Aunt Kathy and her kids soon too. 

We then made it back to Dallas by 5pm and went straight to eat dinner. You have to eat dinner early with babies for their sake and the other diners! We decided to try Kirby's Woodfire Grill and had a great meal. It is such a large restaurant and a lot of space so we enjoyed the peace and quiet there.

Before my dad left the next morning, we met him for breakfast at Dream Cafe in the Quadrangle. She loved sitting in her high chair and smiling at all the customers and the wait staff.  

Luna had an amazing first Christmas and I am soo sad it is over now :(  
So, I hate to start this post on a negative note, but if you have not heard, things have been kind of stressful in the Hartgrove household. We have been stressed all week as Todd has had to work 11 days in a row! Yes, 11 days in a row. That means the poor guy was way too tired to help me cook or clean or Christmas shop a week and a half before the big holiday. So with both of us not getting sleep because we have a baby in the home, and me averaging still about 4-5 hours a night since she was born, and running around town shopping for groceries and gifts, cleaning my house for the upcoming guests and holiday and taking care of a 7 month old- I was flat out exhausted. It was enough to send any sane person to the insane asylum, seriously!  It is just too much for one person to handle.

So luckily my mom stepped in to help. I was starting to think I would have to just have the Christmas dinner at my mom's house, even though it was Todd's year to have his family in town for Christmas, I just didn't think I was going to be able to handle it. But Todd and I were really looking forward to having Luna's first Christmas at our home. So my mom came over a few days before to help clean and watch Luna so I could run errands and shop.  It definitely helped a lot and can see now why life is much easier with a maid. :)

Now on to the fun part!!!!!!
Luna had a very memorable first Christmas! It started with having her grandfather, Abuelo Richard, cousins, Aunt and Uncle arriving at our home on Christmas Eve. Her Auntie Bao and family also stopped by to say hello.  We then all headed out to eat Christmas Eve dinner at Bolla at the Stoneleigh Hotel.  It is a long tradition in Todd's family to eat a nice dinner during Christmas Eve.  Bolla had a festive atmosphere and were surprisingly accommodating for a baby, they had a high chair strategically placed when we arrived! The dinner was very nice, with a 5 course meal and it ended with my favorite course, dessert! A yummy banana bread pudding. My second favorite course was the parsnip soup- it sounds awful but it was very melt in your mouth good. Luna did exceptionally well and barely made a whimper. I think she was having such a good time being entertained by her cousins.

After dinner, we hung out and the kids opened 1 gift each before Christmas Day.   We were also very excited that Heather, Rey and the kids were spending the night with us for the holidays. We watched fun Christmas movies, Elf and White Christmas, had had chocolate and then got ready for bed. Todd and I set out a few of our gifts for Luna to see the next morning. I know she is a little young but I was so excited to get them set up for her and I a really looking forward to the next few years and being Santa!!

Christmas morning we woke up and took Luna into the living room. She was amazed at all of her new toys and could not wait to start playing with them. Her Aunt had bought her some matching Christmas PJ's and she looked adorable in them with her cousins!
She loved her Taggie cell phone, Lotsa stuffed bear, and her new Leap frog pal Violet.  As the rest of the family started waking up, we had a lot of goodies for breakfast. The kids then opened all of their presents. My mom, Raul, Erika, Meghan, Grayson and Jeff then showed up and we all had an awesome Christmas breakfast- 2 egg casseroles, french toast casseroles, Croissants from Williams Sonoma, fruit, coffee cake and coffee.  We put Luna down for a short nap and we were hoping she would sleep longer to make her day easier but not so much. I stressed about it but figured hey, it was Christmas and her schedule was bound to get disrupted today!

So next came our favorite part, presents! We all started to open presents and the kids helped play "Santa" and hand them out.  Luna definitely had the most by far and we all agreed a baby needed to be spoiled for sure!  She got a lot of really amazing presents and is very blessed to have such amazing family that is very giving.

Then off to the kitchen us women went. We cooked and slaved and I have no idea why. I was only supposed to do the green beans because I was advocating for a catered meal from Lubys- no cooking this time so we could all relax and enjoy Luna's Christmas. But I guess my 1956 oven was causing slowness and drama, and dishes were not getting cooked and everything was taking forever. I tried to get Luna to sleep for her usual 2 hour afternoon nap- but not happening. She started crying and I ran back to get her and try to get her to sleep after 45 minutes, but no- she was too excited I guess to sleep. Which meant she would be cranky and tired but oh well. I was glad we had family there to help play with her and watch her while we prepared for dinner. I fed her a great meal of Peas and Carrots, and then it was time for the grown-ups to eat. 

I finally sat down at our table and I was at the head of the table. When did that happen? Me a hostess at the head of a table?? That is a first! To have my mom sitting to my right and me at the head, and also having a baby playing on the floor for Christmas, things sure are different than last year!!

I then realized I did not have any wine, got up to serve myself and then realized, I was just way too tired to even be drinking in the first place and passed on that!  I almost fell asleep at the table, I don't even remember what the conversation was about!! lol.. Next time, Luby's is getting my business- the same argument for the maid- makes life a whole lot easier during the holidays! And I was so tired I forgot to snap pictures of our table setting AND most importantly I did NOT take any pictures of the rest of her family! I can't believe, me the crazy picture taking lady, forgot to take pictures of family today!!  I have to say I was just not myself today.

We had amazing desserts too, pies baked by Heather and Jeff and some Oreo cake balls. And both Heather and Jeff were great cleaners and cleaned up everything after our meals, thanks to you both!!

Then several people told me I needed to go and lay down. Was it that obvious? :) So we all laid down and took naps at 5pm!  Including Luna who was very tuckered out from her long day. After we woke up, we all piled in the car to go and look at Christmas lights in Highland Park and Hunters Glen. Then returned to have some hot chocolate and play with all of our new fun toys.

The next day, we went over to Todd's cousin's house- Jeff and Angie and their 3 kids, Jefferson, Fletcher and Evelyn. Luna loved seeing the kids and was giggling at all of their playfulness!

Luna sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time yesterday and got a cute pic of her in her protective seat!

I took this picture of Luna in her diaper today, such cuteness!

So exciting!!! Luna's Santa picture was chosen as a finalist in Parent's Magazine's Spooked by Santa contest. Please click on the link and vote as much as you can every day until the 26th!
Vote Today! 

Click on the link below:
http://photos.parents.com/spooked-by-santa/51/2010/145?esrc=nwphotofaves_spookedsanta

My mom and I headed out to the Arboretum on Wednesday since she had not seen Luna with a Santa yet.  This Santa was super nice and very friendly but Luna was not having anything to do with him. She was ready to go the minute I sat her on his lap!

The next day, Luna and the Lake Highlands babies (Addison, Alex, Jack and Ella Grace) headed out to the Arboretum again for more Santa. We all tried but not one of them were very happy with us and the idea of sitting in Santa's lap, not one! They all cried the minute they got near him!  I don't know what it is, the beard, the big red outfit?  We then hung out by the stairs and got some cute pics. We all went to Fat Daddy's for lunch afterwards and Luna was so tired she slept so her mommy could eat.

The next day, Luna had to get her shots again :( She was due for her second flu shot and her 3rd HiB vaccine. She of course cried but got over it quickly, thankfully- poor little thing!  Then her grandma Cocoa came over to see her and visit- we also went to this cute baby shop up in Richardson called Little Lam.  Totally worth the drive up there!


On Saturday, we just hung out and had a lazy day. We visited Tinsley and Ava for a brief visit, since they are getting over some bad colds. Then Luna and I shopped in the Ergo at the new 80,000 sq ft Whole Foods- we had a great coupon, spend 40$ and get 1 pound of free Chicken and 1 pound of shrimp- of course it is still called Whole Paycheck! I still can't get over the prices there!


On Sunday, Luna and I headed to Dream Cafe to meet some old college friends, Mary, Carmen and Lan. Mary and Carmen went to high school with me at Ursuline and they went to St Edwards with me too, and Lan went to St Ed's with the 3 of us- she was visiting from Houston and we had not seen her in like 15 years!!  It was nice to visit and catch up as it had been too long. And it was good seeing Carmen who is almost 8 months pregnant!

Later, we met up with Todd and headed to the Gaylord with Aunt E to see what they had going on for Christmas. It was crazy crowded and we were not able to take good pictures because of the crowds, but I posted a few we were able to take.

Luna is 7 months old today! I can't believe she is now on the downslope to a year old! It will be here before we know it.
She has been doing super and on track with all her milestones.
She started rice cereal at 6 months and then moved onto Oatmeal cereal. Her first real solid were sweet potatoes and she started those last week. She loved them but loved the next solid, butternut squash even more. Today she started pureed green beans and I was afraid she would turn her nose up at them but she ate them up so fast and wanted more!! That's my little girl! She is such a joy and loved watching her grow! 

So far, here are things she has been doing:
-Sitting up really well without any assistance
-Picking up objects, including balls with one hand
-Kicking while doing tummy time and preparing to crawl, but not there yet thank goodness! I am going to dread the day she learns to crawl with all of the babyproofing we are going to have to do :)

So I forgot to put a post up of little Luna's new adventure eating solids.  She started with sweet potatoes and actually liked them, and this week has moved onto Butternut Squash. The best part of it all is that I am making her food homemade in the Beaba.  And let me just tell you, it is the easiest thing I have ever used in the kitchen!! You basically  put in chunks of the veggies and turn it on, it steams and cooks the food in minutes with just a little bit of water. Then you turn the switch to the right, and it purees it!! Then I pour the veggies into the freezer tupperware compartment it came with, that holds about 6 chunks worth of food.  Then when you need to use it, just pop one out, zap it and it's ready. So far she loves butternut squash the most! This next week, we're moving on to green beans.

Luna had a great weekend with lots of people to see!  We met her Abuelo Richard at Mint for dinner and she enjoyed seeing him again and can't wait to see him for Christmas in 2 weeks!


On Saturday, we finally made it out to visit her friend Maxwell, who she had not met yet but had been dying to, since he was born just a few days before her. My friend Lamar and I went to grad school together and then she moved up here to get her PhD, and now teaches at TWU. She has the cutest little girl Eliana, 3, and Luna just adored her and her little brother Max- in fact, she was having so much fun we forgot to take a picture of Maxwell before he went down for his nap! Oh well, next time.  Luna placed so hard she passed out on the way home.

On our way home from Corinth, my mom called to see if we would stop by our family friend Marie's dad's assisted living home. He lives about 2 miles from us and they were having a 90th birthday celebration for him, and his great-grandkids had come in from LA to visit. The girls loved Luna, and enjoyed playing with her.  My mom and I then headed home to get Luna to bed as my mom was nice enough to offer to sleep over and get up with Luna during the night!! I have not slept more than about 2 hours at a time since she was born. Since she goes to bed around 7pm, and I don't go to bed until around 10:30/11pm, she gets up for her next feeding at 1 or 2 am and then again around 4 or 5am and then up by 7am, but she also still wakes up here and there and just needs her paci to be put back in and rocked a bit.  So, for the past 7 months, I have been doing this since Todd works and has to get up each day.  It had gotten to the point where I was so sleep deprived I was almost delusional...lol.. so I am glad my mom stepped in!! It was a good night, I still woke up a lot because I guess I am used to it and ended up feeding her once because she would not take a bottle of pumped milk from my mom, but it was a good night!

The next day we went back over to Marie's for a brunch celebration and then went home to relax. We made it to New Flower Market (we are trying to find a cheap but organic grocery store) and this one was really not any cheaper than Whole Foods, oh well!  It has been so cold here today, that we came back home and stayed in for the rest of the day.

Luna had a fun filled day at the newly remodeled Fair Park Aquarium with her playgroup friends!  She was mesmerized by the fish and the other water critters that would pass by her, including the Albino crocodile, sting rays, sharks and all the little fishies. She enjoyed hanging with her friends Addison, Ella Grace, Alex, Jack and Clay!

After we got home, Luna took a nice long nap and then was super excited her friend Tinsley came over to play with her along with her big sister Ava!