Bailey at 8 months

You finally went to the zoo (and we have season passes now so there are more trips in your future)!! You even got to have Bumpa join you and he loved every second of it J

 

We lowered your crib mattress (on the 4th of July). You are crawling around in your crib now and trying to grab at all of your toys on the mobile. You LOVE your crib, it's like a fun playpen for you

You can crawl – very, very fast! Time for mommy and daddy to get baby-proofing!

You can pull yourself up onto things. Not a lot yet, but it's done multiple times/day

Hi mommy, I'm standing like a big girl!

You celebrated your first 4^th of July (quite stylishly, I might add)

  

You went to the Apple Valley 4th of July parade and met up with Charlee!



Hi Charlee - nice to finally meet you - pretty dress :)



Daddy - this is so exciting!



   

Check out all this candy I can't eat!



  

You love to splash in your little pool (and the bathtub!) When you see mama with the pool, you get really excited and follow me around until it's time to get in :)

 You've tried quite a few new foods this month

More peas, please!

We went to the cabin the weekend after the 4^th and you had fun with your cousins and (practically) step-cousins

Maylee and Bailey in the pool

Checking out the lake with daddy

snoozing on the raft with daddy

You started swimming lessons! You and Austin are the only ones in your class and you like to mimic each other and flirt with each other. It’s the cutest thing ever!

Daddy and Bailey swimming on night 1 (of 7)

You did so well on your first long car ride! I was dreading the car ride so much (as per usual, but even more with an almost 8 month old baby). We spent 9 hours in the car each way driving to Minot, ND. I can’t even express how proud I am of you!! Out of the whole time in the car, you maybe cried a total of 15 minutes (max) which is pretty much unheard of.

  

After your amazing car ride, you did not sleep very well in the crib that was set-up for you at uncle Travis and Auntie Marie's house. I’m blaming the cold basement we slept in at my bro’s house for your out-of-the-ordinary sleeping behavior that landed you in our bed for 3 nights. I’m not a fan of allowing babies to sleep in the bed with parents, but it was what worked for us at that time (and I’ll be honest, I kind of liked having our family cuddled together in bed for a few nights…). Now time to get you back to your normal routine!

You survived your first Marsland Family Reunion. You were a pretty big hit with the family

I took no pictures of the reunion (blogger fail), but here you are, Bailey, snoozing in the boba (mommy really liked you cuddled up with her!). Also, we've had the reunion in a retirement home the last few years and it really isn't very fun. I'm hoping next year it will be somewhere more exciting!

Other things to note

Height: unsure

Weight: at home weigh-in was 18lbs
Head: unsure

Places you've been: Cabin - MN Zoo - Minot, ND - Apple Valley Parade - Swim Lessons
Doctor's Appointments: You don't go back until 9 months

Daycare: Still driving to Elko about 2-3 days/week. Sometimes daddy keeps you at home with him instead of taking you to daycare (less driving)
Sleeping: You've done really great minus when we were in Minot, ND. I think it was due to the coldness in the basement (64 degrees)
Eating: Eating 7oz every 3-4 hours. Some new foods you've tried this month are carrots, peas, mangoes (which made you poop 4 times at daycare so that was the end of that) and some store-bought food combos (chicken and apples, fruit medley). I've made the carrots, peas and mangoes for you! 

Clothing: Mostly wearing 6 months and still squeeze into some 3-6 clothes

Diapers: You are wearing size 2 diapers when you wear regular diapers. We've had a few incidents with the cloth diapers. I'm not sure if it's time to "strip" them or what, but you wake up soaked in the morning with your overnight cloth diapers and occasionally leak through the ones you wear during the day. For now, you're wearing a disposable overnight diaper until I can figure out what the problem is there.
Things you like: Playing peek-a-boo, chasing your puppies around and stealing their food, splashing in the puppy water bowl, pool time (lessons or at-home pool), when we fake sneeze, you LOVE it when we clap our hands and praise you, the vents on the floor and walls, mommy/daddy assisted petting of the puppies, going for walks, watching other kids play, moving around on your own in the house
Mommy likes: when you see mommy pick you up from daycare you get a big smile on your face, when mommy sings and dances for/with you, you love to pull mommy's hair and necklaces and suck on them, you try to give mommy kisses (which sometimes involves a tongue in mommy's mouth),
Daddy likes: when daddy sings to you in the morning to wake you up, when daddy gets home from work, daddy cuddles

On the eve of your 8 month birthday after I gave you your bottle before bed, I started singing your “Bailey Bear” song  and your little head popped up from my chest where it was resting and you had the biggest smile on your face and you just watched my lips sing the song to you and you started giggling a bit too. I keep thinking of that moment and it just makes me realize how much of you (and your personality) I just love to pieces. You are so unbelievable. You make me and everyone that meets you smile.

“Bailey Bear”

My name is Bailey Bear

I have some pretty hair

I’m so cute!
And I toot!

I love my mommy

And my daddy

And my monkeys, too

Oooh!

Baby Girl Got Moves

Yesterday was a pretty exciting day in the life of a pregnant lady!

Last night while eating dinner I told Chris that I was pretty sure that on Sunday night when I was reading in bed the baby kicked. The baby {supposedly} kicked so hard that the iPad resting on my tummy lifted up on one side. I was shocked and thought I must be going crazy(er). I put the iPad down and rested my hand on my tummy to feel another kick, but didn't feel anything and figured I was either imagining things or extremely tired and should sleep. So off to sleep I went.

Well, my craziness was put at ease last night. Chris and I were watching America's Got Talent and I started feeling some movement again. I put my hand on my tummy and I could feel the baby kicking me. I immediately told Chris and made him put his hand there. She must've gotten shy and wouldn't kick for him so he took his hand away. I put my hand back and shortly after she was kicking away again. I put Chris's hand back and we had so much fun feeling her kicking and dancing away in there.

Chris was supposed to work last night and ended up finding someone to work for him since he worked during the day and has plenty of work lined up the rest of this week. I am so happy and thankful that he was home.

Yesterday was also exciting because I scheduled two 3d/4d ultrasound appointments. In June, I asked Chris if we could look into getting one done and just check out the cost. I was extremely excited to find an office in Bloomington, MN that does great work and at reasonable prices (in my opinion). Here is the website if you live in the Twin Cities and are interested in checking them out. I called and spoke to one of the owners who is also the guy that will be performing the ultrasounds. He was extremely nice and answered all of my questions and concerns. The business is family-owned and seems to be a great place to go with state of the art equipment. Our first appointment is on my birthday, August 7. I can't imagine a better way to spend my birthday :) The second appointment is on Sept 7. We'll get lots of pictures and a DVD of each appointment. I'm so excited to see our little baby soon! I'll do a post after our first appointment to let you know how our experience was in case you are considering going there.

On Thursday we're leaving to go to Minot, ND (my hometown) for the weekend. I'm really not looking forward to the 8+ hour car ride (hey Kelly, can we borrow Greg to fly us over there, haha) but I am looking forward to seeing my family and spending some time with my niece and nephews!

If I don't post before then, I hope you have a great weekend!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 1

Hello, I'm doing a 30 day blog challenge found here. Link up if you'd like to join!


Day 1 is Introduce yourself, so here it goes. 

My name is Becky. I live in Savage, MN with my husband of almost 2 years (December 6) and our 2 yorkies Oscar (will be 5 in December) and Kirby (will be 3 in a couple weeks). We have a beautiful home that we love and have done a lot of updating and finished the basement last winter. I love to go to my mother-in-law's cabin (leaving tomorrow for the weekend), hang out with friends and family and recently have started to like baking and cooking new recipes. 


I grew up in Minot, ND and moved away from there when I was 18 and went to college in Mankato, MN for 3 years and then transferred to the cities to finish my degree in Accounting (nerd). I really love living in Minnesota. I go back to Minot once or twice a year to visit my brother and his family. 


I enjoy going for jogs with my husband. I grew up running long distance, but over the past winter I pushed myself to run further than I ever have (or imagined I would). I was running between 3 and 5 miles daily. It was great and I hope to one day run a half marathon. 

My husband and I love nachos, hence the name of the blog. I don't think we're alone in our love of nachos. Pretty much everyone loves them, we're just more open about it :)






That's a little peak inside of my life. I can't give away too much info, I still have 29 more posts to go:)

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

 

• That it's Wednesday and that means there is only 2 more days left this week, it's been a long one!

• That tonight my husband doesn't work and we are having BBQ chicken on the grill, twice baked potatoes that we will be preparing on the grill and sangrias (my SIL introduced me to the recipe this past weekend and it's soooo yummy! I may have done a "test run" with the recipe last night ;) )

• That this crazy humidity filled past few days is supposed to be going away soon. It's nice that it feels like summer, but I don't love Florida summers and that's what it feels like right now

• That my hometown park is ranked #2 in the running to win $100,000 to help rebuild the park. When we were in Minot last weekend, you couldn't even access the park since that part of the city is still closed off. I can't even imagine what it will look like when you can see it again.

Here is the link if you want to cast your vote 1 or a million times :)

http://www.livepositively.com/​#/americasparks/vote

• And finally, I'm loving that my amazing husband agreed to let me get a patio set for under our deck. We have such an amazing view in our backyard (no houses behind us, just marsh land) and now we can sit and relax and plan what we're going to do in our backyard. He's supposed to pick it up today, can't wait!

Miscellany Monday

I'm linking up to Carissa, check out her blog http://www.carissagraham.com/

1. I can't get my home town (Minot, ND) off my mind. So many people dealing with disaster it makes my heart ache. Many of my high school classmates live in Minot or the surrounding area and have lost so much in this flood.
2. I'm kind of stressed about the bake sale I'm having on Wednesday and Thursday this week to raise money for this flood. I want to make as much money as possible to donate so I'm constantly thinking of the best recipes, the set-up and what more I can do to raise sales. The office manager told me today that she was willing to front the bill to rent a popcorn machine and charge people 50 cents a bag that would all go towards my fundraiser. I was in shock of her generosity!
3. On a happier note...I'm so excited for this weekend! We're going to the cabin with Chris's family (mom, bf, sister and her family and bf's kids and grand kids). It will be a busy place, but it will be lots of fun. Also excited to meet a family friend's new baby. He's just over a month old and will be joining us up there.
4. Speaking of the cabin...all the kids are taking on a meal to make so Chris's mom doesn't have to foot the bill for food, worry about getting groceries, preparing it and washing dishes. We're bringing chicken sliders, coleslaw, baked beans, pasta salad and desert (which could be a wide variety of things). I'm so glad that we can contribute!
5. I'm so happy for this beautiful weather we've gotten the past couple of days! Finally some sunshine is in the forecast. It's hard to believe that summer is almost half over and the very few sunny days we've had so far!
6. I'm so happy and proud of my friend Sarah. She just graduated with her masters this past weekend! Her grad party was yesterday and it was great to see her (hardly seen her the past year since she's been buried in books and school work). What an accomplishment and now she gets to finish planning her wedding (getting married in Sept) and looking for a new job. Oh, and she might enjoy some of this summer before all that job stuff has to take place :)

This week is going to fly by and that's just fine with me. I have a ton of stuff to accomplish by the weekend, but I will have a great time doing it all! I hope everyone has a great week!

Praying for Minot, ND

Today I'm praying and thinking of all my friends and family in Minot, ND and surrounding areas. They have spent the last month dealing with flooding. It is unimaginable to think about what families are going through right now. There were mandatory evacuations a few weeks ago and now again as more water is let out into the river that runs through the small town. Looking at pictures and reading posts on Facebook just breaks my heart. The community is awesome and are working together and helping each other out to fight this flood. This is record breaking water heights and so many families and businesses will lose so much. These pictures were posted on Facebook by the local news station that has been covering the story (KX News Minot).

Bridges flooding

Basements Flooding

Trucks hauling sand through the town

This picture scares me - I can't imagine that much water around my house unless I'm on an exotic island

Some grocery stores have had to shut down if they are in the evacuation zones

Business doing their best to protect what they have

Sandbags and plastic to protect everything you can

They have built up dikes time and time again to stop the water

I am fortunate enough that my brother's family is not in the evacuation zones (they moved to a house on top of a hill last summer) and most likely will not lose anything. My aunt and uncle are not so lucky. They have livestock and household items to get out before this weekend when the water is supposed to rise drastically. I also have many friends that are evacuating and trying to get through this. I can't imagine evacuating and trying to focus on your everyday activities (work, kids, etc). My high school 10 year reunion has been cancelled (possibly rescheduled) due to the flooding.

I just ask that you think and pray for this community! The worst is still to come and when it's over, you have to go back to your house and start over.