Among the toys...

As you can see, we have a plethera of toys. This is only a 1/10th of them.

Inara rolling (in pictures)

I wish they were all taken in landscape mode but we have plenty of time to get those. Inara has been rolling from tummy to back since about 6-7 weeks old. The Pediatrician said it was just a fluke, since she is not supposed to be rolling until 3-4 months but since she does it every day many times at day, we think not.

Inara's beautiful face...

There are no words to say how much I love this face. I will never tire of it.

The many expressions of Inara - 2 months taken by Mom (Professional ones to be posted this week, trust me they ROCK)

Yes, may I help you...


(whistle, whistle) I didn't do nothing ...


One of these things is cute cuddly care bear;
the other, a big blue stuffed animal...


Pwetty pwetty pwease?!!


Author, composer, Nobel laureate...


hee hee, I am so cute and I know it!


Are you kidding me?! You want me to lift this elephant??!!


Hi Mom!


SMILES!!!!! We rarely smile for the camera. Infact there a total of 3 pictures where she is smiling. She is much more interested in studying the camera.

The images have not been color corrected (the camera puts a very red tinge to faces-she honestly is not as red as she seems.), but since I have hundreds of images and not a lot of time, I figure you probably want to see them before she graduates from high school.

Pimping out my ride ...

Daddy airing up Inara's tires for her daily walks. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this stroller. Inara loves it too (there is never any crying while in the stroller, not that she does much of that anyway).

Pottery Barn Kids SCORE!

I was browsing the catalogue when I saw the above. It was listed as $69. I thought wow that is really reasonable for PBK. When I went online it was listed at $89. I called and it was a misprint in the catalogue and until PBK can issue a retraction they must honor the price. Who Hoo! It is on its way. Yes, I understand she is way to little for it, but she won't be little forever. She is growing up WAY to fast.

It's Christmas Shopping Time (Part 2) ...

These hats are adorable. I ordered both. Sorry couldn't help myself. The flower one I ordered in the 6-12 month size for when she is a little older.

Only the blue will be replaced with black velvet

I have a new addiction : http://www.etsy.com/. Plus it supports individuals.

We are still thinking of her big gift (probably something she will use when she is a little older) or maybe a car seat. Yeah, I know boring!

It's Christmas Shopping Time ...

and Inara is going to be SOOOOOOO spoiled.

She choose her first doll (pictured above)

We took her to a local organic store and I took several dolls off the shelf. I held up each one. The first one she looked left, the second she looked right and the third she smiled at, so that was the one we got. We ordered it from cottonbabies as it was over $20 cheaper. Grandma is treating.

I scored at the Pediped Friends and Family Sale and bought these in 0-6 and 6-12 months:

http://www.pediped.com/Product/ProductInfo.aspx?id=122&cid=25

Why I did not buy them in every size I have no idea, stupid me.

EEG

Inara received her first set of vaccination September 5th. She did great - she did not even cry when they poked her (yes our baby is just that mellow). She ran a low grade fever 99.2 for the rest of the day - but was not really fussy, ate like a champ and slept through the night. The next day she was her happy self - smiling & cooing.

About 3-4 days later I noticed that she stopped smiling and cooing, stopped responding to my voice and preferred to look at her surroundings rather than us. No big deal, all babies have bad days and exploring their environment is an important milestone. However, she did not return to herself. I took her to the Pediatrician who spent over 30 mintues with us and Inara did not respond very well. She would not look at the Pedi often (3 times in 30 minutes and only 2 smiles with no cooing) and the Pedi noticed she kept looking to the right and raising her right arm. She consulted with a Pediatric Neurologist who stated she could have had a reaction to the Pertussis part of the DTP, could have baby migraines but was most concerned with the head turning and arm raising - this could indicate subclinical seizure activity. Immediately I broke down in tears. We went of an EEG on Friday at the Dell Childrens Medical Center. We also began intensive behavioral stimulation.

That Friday we returned to the Pedi who cried because Inara was doing so well. She was back - smiling, cooing and responding to my voice. I absolutely adore our Pediatrician. If you are in the Austin area I highly recommend Dr. Elizabeth Reidy of Schoolhouse Pediatrics.

The EEG was negative - no seizure activity noted. Thank you God.

The Plan: No more Pertussis. The Pertussis part of the DTP is still linked to causing permanent brain damage in infants. Lovely, let us hope Inara is not one of them. If she continues to demonstrate this behavior at 4 months we will be scheduling an MRI to determine if Inara is suffering from migraine headaches (rare but possible for infants). The avoidance of eye contact is a sign as this indicates the infant is overstimulated. We will also be continuing with a delayed immunization schedule and passing on Rotovirus, opting out the of the MMR and giving the M, M, and R at seperate appointments by themselves as well as not beginning that injection until at least 16-18 months of age, delaying Hepatitis B until the start of school, passing on Hepatitis A until the start of school and no flu shots will be given - ever. Basically following Dr. Bob Sears alternative immunization schedule. If you have not read The Vaccine Book I highly suggest you do.

Inara continues to do well. She can roll from tummy to back and does many times daily (she has been rolling since about 6-7 weeks), she can lift her head, neck and chest completely off the ground, support weight on her legs, bat at toys, reach and grasp toys as well as attempt to reach her toes. She is cooing, smiling at us and complete strangers, maintaining eye contact for several minutes and even has a specific call for me which does contain the "m" syllable. She is one smart cookie, she knows who has the milk!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers and send good thoughts to our precious baby girl.

Check out these curls...

Inara's Reaffirmation

Inara's baptismal rose (not quite how I wanted the shot to turn out, but hey...)


I cannot get the colors corrected on this to save my life. Tonal corrections that don't work, totally throw me. Best I could do.


Lary, Me, Inara and our amazing pastor - Pastor Patterson

Inara was reaffirmed (baptism was done in the hospital) on August 24, 2008. We opted not to choose Godparents - there are so many wonderful people in our church body that we felt specific individuals were not needed.

Inara was reaffirmed in my baptismal gown, I wish I had remembered to put in my hospital bag. I also wish I would have washed it (long story but I thought it had been washed when my mom gave it to me), she smelled like a pork chop or maybe bacon.

Look Mom no hands ...

Inara 1 month 4 days

Birth Announcement

Obviously not a straight scan, but you get the general idea.

One month pictures ...

Photographs were taken by a very talented friend I met online at www.thenest.com, who does not give herself enough credit in regards to her photography abilities. With me not working, using our current photography Lisa or spluring on Lyndsay with http://www.lifeinmotionphotography.com/ is not an option for monthly shots. Sigh.

I am forever grateful to her as she will be coming once a month to capture Inara as she grows. Here are my favorites...


Look at me, I can hold my head up all by myself. So proud...


Mmm, I see the lady who provides the Sweet Mana from Heaven (aka milk) . I wonder if it is feeding time?




Probably my favorite picture...


Ok, maybe this one ...


How cool is this shot!

Inara's Baptism - July 12, 2008

Yes, this is blurry too, but again I don't care.

As Lutheran's we believe that little children (including infants) are sinful by nature (Psalm 51:5, Ephesians 2:3b) and must be born gain in order to be saved. (John 3:5-6). So, we decided to baptise as soon as possible so that if something happened I knew we would see her again in heaven. Our amazing Pastor was very supportive, even he baptised 2 of his children in the hospital. We had a reaffirmation ceremony August 24, 2008 but those pictures are still on the camera.

She simply is our ...

Inara - 19 days old.

The photo is really noisy but Noiseware Professional is on the Christmas list since I now have to stick to a budget.

One of my favorite pictures from her first week of life ...

I know it is blurry but I don't care.

She has him, right were she wants him...

Eh, eh, eh, the mommy cackles. Does the baby want more Pedipeds?????????

Photo taken again by the fabulous Lisa Woods at www.nowandthenphotography.com

Gotta pimp out the nursery even more ...

Sea Turtle is from the Sea Turtle Rescue Center in South Padre Island, Texas. I love that place, if you are going to SPI - I highly recommend a visit to the Rescue Center.


She is just so excited about her nursery - YAWN mommy.


Inara's first teddies - love from Gma & Gpa and Nana Mary and Papa Jim.


Ahh, the circles - it took months to get these done! However, Inara LOVES them. In fact the circles are the first thing she smiled at. I highly recommend entertainment above or beside the changing table. Red is a good color as red is the first color infants are drawn to after the black
and white combo. Look at me sound like I know what I am talking about. I learned about the red thing way after this was done. In fact, I learned it just last week ;-)




Pictures were taken by Lisa Woods of http://www.nowandthenphotography.com/ during Inara's Newborn Shot.