So much happening!

I know, you all have been waiting patiently for a new blog post, well here it is and I'm going to try to get in as much as possible.
We've had a busy first three months.
In January, I celebrated my 31st birthday. We had a lot of fun as I went to two baby showers (Jen and Wendy) and then Ruel, Christina and I went to Evan's first birthday party.
February brought us to Valentine's Day and the decision to put our house on the market. Additionally my mom and dad retired! Both had retirement parties hosted by their companies. Oh, and the little other thing of them moving from Orlando to reside in Melbourne full-time. It's no wonder there was no time for a blog update!
March, oh March. It started off really well. Ruel and I had the opportunity to go to the Michael Buble concert. We had great seats and the show was excellent. Turns out it was his first concert of the tour. Orlando was the innagural location for the crazy love tour!

But then things got a little more difficult. We got an offer on the house and had a home inspection followed by an appraisal. The inspection was fairly clean and the buyer wanted to proceed, but the hitch came in the appraisal of the house, which was far lower than the contract price. So low that we could not go forward. We felt that the appraisal was unfair and our wonderful realtor did everything she could to make things right, but the buyer eventually backed out of the deal. So we had to start over with the process, putting the house back on the market and hoping for another buyer to be interested enough to put in an offer. Christina then came down with her first case of Strep Throat. No fun in an infant. She also gets asthma when she's sick, so it's exhausting for everyone with breathing treatments, antibiotics and late night doctor visits.
On March 21, we were able to attend Olivia's first birthday party and Christina had fun playing with all the other kids. Thanks to Michelle who threw a wonderful party and gave me some great ideas for Christina's upcoming first birthday!

I'm glad to see April come in actually. I'm praying for some good news on the house and a healthy baby girl.
I can't possibly cover all of the last three months, but I hope I've covered a little.
Oh, and we got a new DSLR, so I have a ton of pictures to post from that. I'll try to do that this weekend.
Kaycee

New Year's Resolutions and "We Love Bath Time!"

Along with everyone else, I've made my New Year's resolutions. Be more active, exercise a little more (Wii Fit!) etc. But the next one may seem a little odd. I resolve to go to the grocery stores only once a month! In between I will get veggies from the farmer's markets and milk from places like CVS and Walgreens.

Strange I know, but I have finally realized that I have no self-control in the grocery store and fall prey to those sales every time, even if I already have the items on hand. "It's such a good deal," "I had a coupon for that," have been my mantras, which wasn't a bad thing, except I had been going way too often and now our shelves overflow with food that needs to be eaten!

So between Ruel and I, we will come up with meals using ingredients we have available, supplementing with fresh fruits and veggies. I am proclaiming now that I will not shop for groceries again until at least 2/9/10 or later. It would be interesting to see how long I could really go...

But let me tell you about my couponing. I save a lot of money on basic staples, if only I could stick to just those items...I'll share some tips.
1) If you have a coupon for something that you always use, hold onto it and see if you can wait for a sale, otherwise, make sure to use it, don't let it expire even if you don't need the item right away, it's a savings! Especially true for baby items like diapers and baby wash. If you are worried that the tot will outgrow a size first,get the next size up!
2) Use baseball card holders to display your coupons in a 3 ring binder and organize the way your grocery store is laid out.
3) If the store will allow it, combine manufacturer coupons with store coupons. Make sure to check and see if your store will take competitor coupons (Publix will here in the south)
4) If you see a BOGO (Buy one get one free) remember that if you have a coupon that allows you to get X cents off when you get two, you are saving!

When I go once a month this year, I will have all of my coupons ready and probably shop Wal-Mart for utility stuff (paper goods, cleaning, non-perishable), shop Publix for those that I have coupons to combine, and then Winn Dixie for their meat section BOGO's. Today, I was able to get 2 boxes of Huggies diapers for the price of one, along with a host of other deals.

Now to Christina.
She's doing so well and has not been sick for almost a month now (knock on wood). Not quite sleeping through the night yet, but the time she gets up is creeping later and later. We went from 2:30 to 3:30 and this morning it was 4:30. I'm holding onto the hope that 12 hours straight is around the corner. She still goes down around 6:30 though, so it's going to mean early mornings!
Her hair is starting to fill in and is now just starting to grow over her ears. We don't think it's going to be raven black like Ruel's, but aren't sure yet what to expect.
Christina absolutely loves bath time. She has ever since the day she was born. I think it's because I really enjoy baths myself. At Christmas we bought her a small inflatable tub that looks like a giant rubber ducky. This transitioned her from the cradle type tub. She loves being able to kick the water and slap her hands down. I think we could leave her in the water all night! She just contentedly plays.
On January 21, she will be 6 months old. She continues to eat like a fiend and we are talking about when to introduce that 3rd meal (lunch). It's hard to get in dinner some nights because we pick her up aroun 5:00 and by the time we feed her at 5:30/6:00 she's getting really tired and can be fussy some days.
Life has reached a new normal here and Ruel and I love it. Christina is a shining light in our lives and each day there are new joys to behold.
We hope everyone is well and staying warm in this very cold winter.

Love, Kaycee

Christina's First Christmas!

What a wonderful holiday season. Christina was spoiled rotten by friends and family alike! We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at my mom and dad's house and then had Christmas night at our home. On Christmas Eve morning Ruel spent some time on the phone talking to his family in the Philippines. It was nice to get to talk with them, we can't wait until they arrive in 2010!


We did make it to Epcot for our traditional Candlelight afternoon, but the park was packed (weekend before Christmas, not sure what we expected) and it was a bit cold, so we just strolled around, had some food and then headed home. Next year we are going to do the dinner package for sure!

I love this picture...I've received a lot of Christmas bears through the years (one each year from my dad) and I had this one from sometime in the past 5 years. Just for fun, I laid it down next to Christina one afternoon and it was hilarious for her to see a stuffed toy as big as she was! We had a lot of fun with that. Now dad (aka Grandpa) is giving Christina Christmas bears for her to start her collection. I mark the tags of each with the year and who gave it to her. Hopefully, when she's older she'll be able to look back with lots of fond memories.

Christmas is Coming...

It's been a few weeks and unfortunately I don't have any pictures to share right now.
Christina is in the throws of another bout of RSV and is having a hard time with chest congestion. She can't seem to get any sleep; coughs keep waking her up. So of course, there are two exhausted parents to go along with it.
In a recent appointment at the Dr's office, I put her on the exam table and let her just play...at which time she promptly rolled over from belly to back. It was the first time! I couldn't believe it. Of all places. Since then I haven't been able to get her to do it again, but we are constantly putting her on her tummy to see if she'll repeat the feat.
We are diligently getting ready for Christmas and have finished most of our shopping. I feel a little funny buying and wrapping her gifts knowing that either I or Ruel will be opening it, but I can't help it, I think it's all part of the Christmas magic.
I am looking forward to the holiday break and am thankful that Ruel is getting Christmas Eve and Christmas day off to spend with us for her first Christmas.
I wish the weather was a little cooler, but the forecast says some relief is around the corner.
That's all for now. I'll try to post pictures next week.
Kaycee

4 months old, Thanksgiving and Meeting Aunt Florence

Whew, I've been away for a while and the stories have piled up. I'll try to catch them all.

On Saturday, November 21, Christina turned 4 months old. The following Monday we had our 4 month well baby check-up and shots. She's 13lbs 4oz and in the 50th percentile for height and weight and 25th percentile for head size. I was going to take a picture of her pediatrician, but after the shots, I forgot. Dr. said she looked great and we could begin solid foods, which we'd done about 2 weeks earlier with cereal. She's loving it!
Thanksgiving was spent with my mom and dad since Ruel had to work (he worked Thanksgiving to get Christmas Eve and Christmas day off, a good deal I thought). Even though it was just three adults and Christina, mom and dad still pulled out all the stops and we had Turkey, Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Caserole, Sweet Potatoes, Rolls, Cranberry Sauce and Pears with Cheese. We definitely stuffed ourselves and of course Ruel was the recipient of some fine leftovers!
I have a picture of Christina in her Thanksgiving outfit, but I will have to post tomorrow, since Mom took the picture and it's on her camera.
Yesterday (Saturday) we went to Walt Disney World with Ruel's sister Florence and her boyfriend Michael. It was the first time Florence had met her niece. Christina is the first granddaughter for Ruel's parents and Florence was the only girl out of 4, so she was glad to have another girl on the Manuel Team! We had a wonderful day park hopping and Christina was so good despite being carted around and it being a little nippy (around 65 degrees for a high). Oh yeah, and Christina held the bottle by herself for the first time yesterday while we were sitting in Frontier Land at the Magic Kingdom.



Today we started on what I would call "real" food. Her first food: Pears. She loves them! It's so exciting to see her grow and change. We did pears for breakfast and dinner. So far so good, no breakouts that we can tell. We'll continue for three days to make sure there is no allergy before moving onto another fruit or veggie.



We are so blessed with friends and family. It has been a wonderful 4 months despite all the learning we've done in being first-time parents. We look forward to each of the firsts that are still to come.

With the holiday season approaching there are many joys in store. Next weekend Ruel and I are going with my mom and dad to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra. If you've never heard of them, Google them and take a listen, you'll recognize them.

Ruel is still working some interviews for an IT job in the medical field. We keep praying and know that an opportunity will come through, when the time is right.

That's all for now, I'll try to post more regularly in the future!
Kaycee

Christina's first trip to Walt Disney World

On November 7th, we went for our annual trip to Epcot for the food and wine festival. This is something we look forward to each year. I was worried about taking Christina out on such a long trip, but she did wonderfully.
We move around World Showcase from the right to left and enjoy foods and drinks from around the world.
My dad always loves to stop and look at the hobby trains near Germany. So we took the opportunity to get a photo of Christina and her Grandpa enjoying the train display.

And no post would be complete without a picture of Christina and my mom (Grandma), even though it's obvious that Christina wasn't into a photo op at the time.

In other news, Ruel is working really hard to help his parents come over from the Philippines. There are so many details, but we take them one at a time and work through it. We are hoping they will be able to come over sometime next year around summer. It will be great for Christina to finally meet her Grandma and Grandpa Manuel.
That's all for this week. Christina is thriving and about 3 1/2 months old. She'll be 4 months (oh my goodness!) on November 21.
Kaycee

Where did October go?

I can't believe it's October 27th already!!
We have had our 3 month (or as I said, our quarter year) birthday, taken our first road trip and continue to have so many new moments. The biggest event of course, was our road trip to VA. Fourteen hours each way and we did it in 5 days. Christina did amazinginly well. We made several stops along the way, but for being confined in a seat, facing backward for such a long time, she was a doll!

It was wonderful to see the Sandridge family. Christina got to meet cousins, 2nd cousins, aunts and uncles, great aunts and uncles and most importantly, she got to meet her Great Grandparents.

Christina and her cousin Levi. Christina is 3 months and Levi is 6 months!

It was cold up there! Even the locals mentioned it was a little unseasonable.
We traveled to Carter Mountain which is a pick-your-own orchard. It was very busy, but we took time to sample the apples (and the wine) and walk among the trees. Ruel and I discovered how difficult it was to manuever a full sized stroller among the apple tree rows on a mountain top. Christina didn't really like the cold, but we tried to keep her bundled up.

Saturday, a friend, Kellee and I are going to Winter Park for a Fall Family Festival and then Christina and I will sit out on the front porch to greet the many trick-or-treaters.
Happy Halloween Everyone!
Kaycee