Baby's First Christmas!

So today was Lexie's very first Christmas. We started getting ready yesterday; I did a lot of cooking and baking and we watched Christmas movies and listened to carols. Last night a major blizzard came through and left us with lots and lots of snow - Lexie's never seen it before so I opened the door so she could see it and told her all about it.

This morning we got up to open presents. Even though I know she doesn't really know what's going on, she had a blast! She had so much fun opening each gift and has already played with all the toys. By the time she opened all of them she was looking around at everything trying to figure out what to grab and shake!

Thank you to everyone who thought of us and especially Lexie on her first Christmas! We love you all and appreciate you so much. Remember the reason for the season is about the greatest gift of all!

I finally get to open!

My Learning Purse!

I'm soooo excited!

Look at all this stuff!

When You're Tired of Milk

... make a sandwich!

I know there's something else I'm supposed to put on here...

There it is!!!

Crawling to the Gifts

Trying to Open My Gifts

(Looks like she got to one a little bit already)

Why do I have to wait?

Okay, fine! I'll play with this instead!

Lexie's First Christmas Play!

So Sweet!

I'm a Stubborn Little Angel!

All Grown Up!

It's Christmas Time!!!

Merry Christmas from the Flaggs!

It's Christmas time!!! Anthony and I both love this time of year and we are just so excited that this year we get to celebrate it with our little girl! It is her first Christmas and as you can see, family and friends have already filled our tree more than ever before and of course, most of it is for her!

Anthony has had a pretty busy traveling schedule and I have been very busy at work (as usual). This week was my first time away from Lexie overnight - I traveled to Denver for business and am so grateful for our good friend Jacarriah who took wonderful care of her while we were both away. She did great and I surprised myself with how well I did away from her, even though I missed her terribly. That said, I am happy to be back home and have her in my arms again.

Anthony got home from his most recent trip last night at 1 AM; it was so good to see him! He's convinced Lexie's hair grew noticeably while he was away :) Church was great this morning; in the spirit of Christmas we gave away bikes to kids today. It was a packed service with many giving their lives to Christ! We came home and ate a good lunch and got to spend some family time together. We also got to add some presents to the growing pile under the tree; maybe it is our imagination but Lexie seemed to be pretty interested in figuring out what was going under there!

We have a really busy week ahead; very intense schedule at work and Anthony travels again this week. Hard to believe Christmas will be the week after that. Other than preparing food, we are pretty much ready to go! Decorations are done, cards are sent, presents are wrapped! It was really fun this year to continue our yearly ornament tradition (every year we purchase a family ornament with our names on it; this year we got a snowman one with a baby snowman in the middle! It is the first year we have three names on it!) Our collection is growing and I can't wait for the day when we have a large collection of beautiful ornaments to look back on!

We want to wish everyone in our lives a wonderful Holiday season. Each of you enrich our lives in a unique way and we love you all.

The Joy of a Hat!

I'm Having So Much Fun!

Up and Down!

Stylin'

Busy!

It's Been a While!

Wow! I can hardly believe it's been so long since I've blogged! Things have been moving at a pretty quick pace here and I have a lot of updates.

First of all, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving; traveled to Memphis for the second year in a row and stayed with Aunt Virginia. Lexie did great on the trip; we brought a Pack n Play this time since she is getting so big and she slept in that while we were there. She met her cousin Isaiah for the first time and they got their pictures taken together - SO cute!

She also got an early Christmas present - her first doll! It is soft, washable and says "I Love You!" (I think Aunt Virginia and I had more fun playing with it than she did!) Eventually it was time to come back home. She did well on the ride back and was so excited to be home that she spent about an hour and a half straight just jumping in her Jumperoo!

We went to the Christmas Train in Dry Gulch that Saturday also. It was an amazing time with so much to see and do! The weather was beautiful and Lexie sat on our laps for the train ride that tells the real story of Christmas. The workers there are in costume and did a great job of staying in character, but Lexie did manage to coax some smiles out of the conductor while we were riding. He was standing in between the rail cars and she stood on my lap and jumped up and down, smiling at him through the car window. He couldn't help but smile and wave at her a few times.

In other news, Lexie started at a new child development center on December 1st. We were sad to see her leave Krystal's since she has so many friends there now, but super excited for all the new adventures ahead of her at her new "school". She has been adjusting well and there is so much for her to do there. Below is a picture of her with her sippy cup; I have been introducing one for a while - I finally put some diluted juice in it (before I was just using water.) I think she thinks it is more of a teether than a cup, but at least she puts her mouth on it and makes me think it's working :)

Our Little Angel

Play Hard, Sleep Hard!

Krystal sent this picture from daycare; Lexie's been playing so hard she's been falling asleep right on the floor this week! She's getting so big; creeping long distances on the floor and acting more and more like a kid instead of a baby.

Below is a video of her shrieking in joy when Bonnie Bear came on. I think she's trying to sing along. She actually did this when the show came on and I rewound it so I could catch her doing it again :) You can hear her say "dada" towards the end of the clip if you listen for it.

Look at Me!

Eating my Parrot

Sitting up Tall

Eating my Feet

I'm Such a Good Sitter!

Fun and Games

Happy and Playing!

Lexie is at such a fun age! Above is a picture of her after Anthony came back from one of his weekend trips! We are able to play all kinds of baby games now - "This Little Piggy", "Peekaboo" and "Patty Cake" to name a few. It is so much fun to watch her smile and laugh.

Below is a picture of Kayden (a little boy at daycare) playing Peek a boo with her. Krystal said he would pop up from the couch and she would laugh every time! Her other favorite thing these days is trying to eat her toes. She's obsessed with it - every time she's on her back the socks come off and the toes go to her mouth :)

We got our first family picture taken for this year's Christmas cards; more to come - watch your mailboxes!

All Bundled Up!

Snuggly in Her Car Seat!

Our little girl is getting so big! Can't believe she is in her seventh month and getting smarter all the time! She is becoming a playing machine - this week at daycare they said she played for almost a whole day before she fell asleep from exhaustion.

I bought a JJ Cole bundle me for her car seat and I absolutely love it! Now that it's getting chillier it's so nice to be able to zip her up in it and not have to struggle with a coat. It really hasn't been super cold but on Friday morning it was chilly so I tried out her hat and gloves for the first time. She looked really cute!

We were going to go up to RHEMA's Harvest Carnival yesterday for Halloween, but Anthony was out of town and plans fell through at the last minute so Lexie and I just handed out treats to the neighborhood instead. We'll get there next year! It was still lots of fun!

She's so Pretty!

Falling Asleep Before Bedtime

Playing with my New Toy

Almost Six Months!

Cutie Pie

Lexie is growing so quick! Anthony was traveling this weekend so I took her to get her six month pictures as well as pictures in her costume. It was so much fun and they turned out great!

She is currently growing out of her size 2 diapers; I plan to buy the next size as soon as she uses up these. She is able to grab toys she didn't used to be able to and last night she ate a really good amount of peas!

She did great in the church nursery again today. She's still teething but seems to be back to sleeping through the night (she was waking up some when she first started.) We have six month shots on Wednesday and she officially turns six months on Thursday. Time is flying!

Getting Colder and Older!

Getting ready to go to daycare - here's Lexie's new fall jacket. It's way cuter in person - hooded and lined with pink and brown. She is so cute in it!

Krystal sent me this picture from daycare. Lexie is LOVING books and is even trying to turn the pages! I don't think she understands fully what she is doing yet, but it's one of her favorite things!

Bananas and Bathrobes

Yum!

So I thought it was about time to try something besides rice cereal; we started with Gerber organic bananas this week and so far so good! Once we've tried this for a week we'll start on something new (her doctor said to wait a week in between each new food to ensure we know the cause if any reactions happen).

I took today off to celebrate Anthony's birthday with him (we went to the Tulsa State Fair while Lexie was at daycare.) Afterwards she and I took a trip to Babies R Us since they were having a sale on clothes and outerwear. I've been wanting to get her a jacket since the weather has started to get a little cooler. She had a blast - giggled and laughed all the way through the store. We picked up a sippy cup since it's time to start introducing one and then found her a great little jacket! We also got a new sleep 'n play since we are starting to move to 6-9 month clothes. (She has clothes but somehow no sleepers in that size!) I found a new eating bib that we tried out tonight and I absolutely love it - it is made of a very thin material so I don't think she feels so constricted in it.

Yesterday she did the funniest thing. Anthony was holding her and she started to get really fussy so he changed her position to stand up on his lap, facing him, still fussy. She started to kick her legs backwards and we finally figured out she wanted an airplane ride! As soon as he lifted her up she started squealing and laughing! So hilarious!

Jumping and Stuff!

New Things Every Day!

So Lexie is definitely teething - she will gnaw on anything in sight to relieve her gums and is eating smaller portions at a time. My guess is that sucking irritates her front gums where the first teeth come in. We went to Oklahoma City this weekend for a show and to see some friends. Megan is ready to deliver any day and Lexie would wrap her arms around her belly and then lean forward to try to chew on it - it was hysterical!

She's changing so much day by day - this week she rolled over back to tummy so now she can roll either way. She reaches out to be held all the time now and giggles in such a cute way! She is also learning to love her Jumperoo - watch the video clip to see her bounce :)

My Babe and My Baby!

My Two Favorite People :)

Aren't they great?!!!

Teething

Poor Lil' Lexie

So I think we've begun the teething phase... poor little Lexie. Her gums have definitely been hurting her and she wants to be near us all the time. So far her freezer teether and teething tablets have helped and we've used Tylenol occasionally also. I've been reading up on it and I'm hoping she will start to adjust to it a little as time goes.

She is getting cuter and cuter every day :) She is getting really proficient at rolling over and has mastered what I call the "half roll" (so she can see the TV but not roll over all the way)! She reached for me for the first time this weekend - it was so sweet! I didn't know it was possible to love someone so little so much!

Chillin' and Watchin' Baby First TV!

Lexie Hanging with Daddy

... and watching Baby First TV - she loves Harry the Bunny and Bonnie Bear the most so far..

Playtime!

'Nuff Said :)

Growing Like a Weed!

Growing Like Crazy!

So I know I've posted a lot of pics of Lexie in her Gymini, but she does spend a lot of time in it and as you can see is growing ridiculously fast! She is so long!

She's begun rolling over, although she cries when she does it because she hasn't figured out how to roll back yet! Her little cold has turned into a cough and we got a breathing treatment machine from the doctor this week to make sure it doesn't become something serious. She cries when we first apply the mask, but she has started to get used to it and actually sticks her tongue out towards the "steam medicine" as it comes out! It is pretty funny.

We took her to Dave and Busters tonight for a friend's birthday; she had a blast looking around at all the people and activities going on. In the picture below she is trying to get to Anthony's giant ice cream milkshake - I guess she was hungry!

All Grown Up!

Bottles and Cereal

So as you can see, Lexie held her bottle herself this week! She is getting bigger, smarter and more fun every day! She loves tummy time thanks to her toys and can reach all the hanging animals on her Gymini easily now. It is so funny to listen to her talk to each one of them as she plays with them. We are planning to get her a Jumperoo soon; she seems to really love the standing bouncer at daycare. I have been continuing to read her this one book every night that comes with a butterfly finger puppet and she gets excited every time we get to the end when the butterfly gives her a kiss!

We fed her cereal for the first time tonight. She ate a good amount for her first time and didn't spit any out! She did make some hilarious faces (as you can see in the video)! I can't believe time is flying so fast and we are already feeding her in her high chair.

Getting Better!

So, Lexie has been getting lots of rest. She is extremely smart and can tell when we are going to clean her nose because she starts protesting as soon as we bring the saline and plunger out! She is definitely getting better each day although still a little stuffy. No fever, so hopefully we will be good to go back to daycare tomorrow.

Below is a video of her in her high chair. I read in a book to start getting her used to her high chair before feeding her in it; enjoy!

Poor Lexie

4 Month Shots and a First Cold...

Poor Lexie. Yesterday was her four month doctor's appointment as well as her four month booster shots. She did great at the appointment part; weighing in at 13 pounds 6 ounces (50th percentile for her age) and 25.75 inches (90th percentile for her age)! I cannot believe she is so tall! Her head circumference is trending well and the doctor was impressed with her alertness, head/neck control and leg strength. We discussed beginning to feed her cereal sometime in the next month or so and once again Dr. Mayberry pronounced her "perfect".

Then came the dreaded part; the nurse with the shots. At the first prick Lexie began to cry immediately and only escalated at the second and third. Fortunately, Anthony came this time and together we held and comforted her. We also had a bottle ready as well as her soft monkey that she loves. Both things really helped her calm down and overall she seemed to do much better than last time.

So on top of the shots, she actually had started sneezing on the way over to the office. The doctor and I thought maybe she just breathed in some pollen, but I now think she has her first cold. She has a little cough and some definite congestion in her nose. We have been giving her a little Tylenol for the low-grade shot fever and because of the timing it is hard to tell what is the cold and what is shot related. Last night was rough on her and me, but today she has been eating and doing much better. I just gave her a Johnson's vapor bath and I think that really helped her breathing to clear up. She has a full tummy and is now asleep in her crib, which I know is the best thing for her! Can't wait until she's better!

Sharing? I Don't Think So!

My Toys!

Yesterday Lexie was playing with her toys as usual when Anthony stooped down next to her key ring (her favorite one). She grabbed her keys and began to push them towards him when he put one finger out towards it. After looking at him for a moment, she pulled the keys back. They continued this little ritual several times, each time Lexie pushed the toy towards him and then pulled it back to herself when he moved as if to take it.

Looks like we'll have to teach her sharing earlier than we thought!

She loves to grunt as she reaches for them!

I Can!

I Can Hold my Keys

I Can Sit up and Grab my Feet at the Same Time!

I Can Fly!

Lexie and Friends

Fun with Friends :)

Lexie went to visit her friend Sophia today; they seemed like they had so much fun! Thanks to Sarah and Stefan for watching her; Sarah couldn't believe how much stronger she has gotten since the last visit :)

Three Month Photo Shoot!

Growing by Leaps and Bounds!

So, as you can see from my last post, Lexie's latest development has been figuring out how to grab her toys (and Daddy's Xbox controller and Mommy's hair!) Of course, she also loves trying to eat her fists pretty much 24/7, but that's been going on for a while :)

You can also see that she has been getting lots of "Tummy Time" practice between home and daycare and she is able to raise herself up very high on her own! She has also figured out how to propel herself forward with her strong little kicks, although she hasn't yet realized how to coordinate that with her hand movements in order to crawl.

We went to JCPenney's for her pictures this time. She had just woken up from her nap and I think that prevented her from smiling a whole lot, but she did very well. After that we took a nice walk around the mall in the stroller. Lexie wanted to be able to see everything that was going on so I opened up the canopy cover until she fell asleep. All in all, a very successful outing and a great way to fill time while Daddy was out of town :) We were very happy to welcome him back!