Mia's 4 month check up

Mia went to the doctor on Tuesday for her 4 month check up. She was perfect....of course. She is up to 13 lb 4 oz and has grown 2 inches in length. She is also right on track with all of her developmental milestones. Her reflux is controlled on her current medication and she is growing well, so we have the green light to start changing things around a little. She was put on Enfamil Alimentum (hypoallergenic) formula at 5 weeks old because they suspected a milk allergy. This stuff is SUPPER expensive. We are going to try to add back in breast milk (for the immunity factor) that has been stored in our freezer. If she does well on that for a week or two, then we get to try to switch her to Soy formula. IT IS SOOOO MUCH CHEAPER to do SOY....I HOPE IT WORKS. We also get to start cereal soon!!!! We have to get the formula issue worked out first but then we get to start cereal, then veggies, then fruits....It will take a little while but YEAH SOLIDS! Maybe she will start sleeping all the way through the night. Don't get me wrong 4-5 hour stretches are great and we have been pretty blessed in the sleep department for the most part, but an 7-8 hour night would be like heaven. We will be trying the first step in our changes this weekend. We are going to try to add some breast milk to her formula. I hope she tolerates it. I would really like for her to have the extra immunity during the winter months. If not, well, we tried. We are keeping our fingers crossed that all goes well. :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, today is my 28th birthday. BOOOOO! I hate getting older. Today has been a pretty wonderful day, despite the getting older part. Dale and Mia surprised me with a birthday present this morning. They got me a beautiful black Coach purse. I was told that Mia picked it out. I unfortunately had to work today, but my wonderful co-workers got me a mani-pedi gift certificate. They said I need to treat myself. This was a gift I couldn't use to buy something for someone else. It's just for me. They are so wonderful. I work with great, thoughtful people. Then my wonderful husband and daughter had flowers sent to me at work. I was told those were Mia's idea too. My mom had a necklace custom made for me. I love it! I can keep her close to me always. It has Mia's name and birth date. Dale is also cooking me dinner tomorrow night. My favorite....sketti and meatballs! I am so excited! So, all-in-all this has been a pretty good birthday, despite the turning older part :)

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!

Hey Everyone - It's official....Dale and I are going to be home owners. We got word on Thursday that they accepted our offer on the house. The inspection was today, and all is well with the house. So, everything is a go. We are doing the appraisal next week, and closing on December 31st. FAST, FAST, FAST. We probably won't actually get to move in until January 16th or 17th because we have to tie up loose ends with our rent house and pack of course. Wish us luck through this stressful endeavor. We are so happy, but so nervous about the whole process. This is all so new to us. We are thankful we have a great realtor and mortgage broker to walk us through this. My mom has been a great help too. I think I have called her two or three times a day for a week now. I will try to post some pictures soon. We are heading over there Sunday evening to show it to Dale's parents, and I will try to take some good pictures then. Stay tooned!

Not so patiently waiting

Well, after waiting and waiting and waiting....we finally got a counter offer on the house Wednesday afternoon. We weren't completely happy with the terms and price the owners came back with, so we countered back this morning. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will have a deal by the end of the day.


I wish I would have realized just how much stress was involved in trying to buy a house. People warned me, but actually going through it is different. Being first time buyers....We don't really know what we are doing. All of this is so confusing to us....points, percentages, PMI, closing costs...What does it all mean??? How much will it all cost us??? It has been a learning experience to say the least. If we do get this house....I know it will only get worse. Once you have a deal, you have to get all the financial paperwork together, and the mortgage company basically has to know EVERYTHING about you and your life. I already have a folder started containing important papers that we will need and it is a 1/2 inch thick already. Then once you get the mortgage taken care of, you have to sign all the papers at closing. I better be resting my hand.


I will let everyone know as soon as we know if we have the house. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

House Hunting

Well, the search has begun. We starting looking at houses this past Friday. We looked for 3 days, and looked at almost 20 houses....AND....we think we found our dream house! It's a 2 story, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2 dinning areas, 2 living areas, and lots of cool upgrades. It has slate tiles around a corner fireplace. Ceramic tile in the kitchen. New carpet and new paint. A large backyard for Mia and the dogs to play in one of these days. We put in an offer on Tuesday, and now the waiting and negotiating begins. Dale and I thought we were going to puke when we sent in the paperwork for our first offer on our first house. I will keep you posted !! Wish us luck!!

Mia's Photo Session

Hello All - Well, Mia had her first photo shoot this morning. It went pretty well. We took the classic "naked baby" pictures, a few in her pretty Christmas dress, and a couple family pictures before she looked like she was going to fall over from exhaustion. She wasn't really cooperating with the "naked baby" pictures because she doesn't like to lay on her tummy for too long, and when she was in her Christmas dress, she was more interested in her dress than the photographer. After the photo session, the photographer stayed behind to show me the photos she took, so I could pick the ones I wanted to order. Mia was swinging in her swing, talking to us the whole time. Not all the pictures turned out good, but there were about a dozen that were pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself. I was a little worried because she wasn't smiling much, but we got a few really good pictures. After the photographer left, Mia PASSED OUT. She took a 3.5 hour nap. She really needed it. I will post the link for the proofs later, so stay tuned.


Check out Mia's Proofs at www.beyondexposure.com/ramirez
**WARNING** Naked baby pictures are included...you may see a cute little tushy and tummy!

My first attempt at blogging

Blogging seems to be all the rage right now, so I thought I would give it a shot. I don't know if I will be any good at it, but I will give it a try. My hope for this new venture is to keep my friends and family up-to-date on our lives down here in "Big D". Stay tuned for my next blogging session!