August 17th

Today was Arm Flapping Day at our house. I thought that Ella was trying to take off and fly around the room. In honor of the Peach Festival this weekend, I gave Ella her first taste of peaches at lunch time. As with every new baby food, she tastes it and gets a funny look on her face as she tries to decide if she likes it or not. Then, moments later, opens wide as I feed her more. With Joe and I as parents, she is either going to hate everything or love everything. So far, she has liked everything she has tried. The bananas made her a bit constipated, I think, so we will wait a little while to try those again! Anyway, nothing too excited happened today. Ella has slowly begun the creeping process, trying to get toys off the floor that are just out of reach. One of these days, she is going to crawl right into the kitchen while I am doing something and I won't even notice! We went for our nightly walk and chatted with some of the neighbors. Apollo is the big cuddly bear of the neighborhood. We found the pacifier we lost yesterday right by the mailboxes. Last night, Ella woke up at 5, cried a little, and then promptly went back to sleep within 15 minutes or so. So at least that's getting better. Hopefully tonight she just puts herself back to sleep without a fuss. Keep your fingers crossed! Well, gotta do dishes and bills before I go to bed. Goodnight everyone!

6 months

So, in 3 days I am officially going to have a 6 month old. Crazy! And I though I wouldn't have much time to update this thing before. Pretty soon Ella will be crawling and getting into everything. I am going to have to keep my eyes peeled 24/7. Last night she twisted herself out of her Bumbo chair and bonked her head on the counter. I was so glad that I was standing right there and she didn't tumble onto the tile floor! That would have been a hospital visit for sure! So now, the Bumbo is retired to the floor and possibly for good. She is sitting up pretty well on her own anyway.

Yesterday we also went to the Palisade Peach Festival. I had never been before and I love Palisade Peaches, so I took Ella and the stroller and met up with my friend Stacey, her niece, and her husband Matt. Anyway, the festival reminded me a lot of downtown Seward, NE on the 4th of July. Vendors everywhere trying to sell you anything. Food vendors, and not even a lot of peach stands. I bought a peach pie to support the Palisade High School marching band, and also got a peach daquiri (non-alcoholic) and tried some peach ice cream. Gotta say that I loved the ice cream! Of course Ella had fun watching all of the people and became known as the "baby wearing sunglasses" at the festival. Who knew she would become a Peach Fest celebrity? I was disappointed because it was a non-alcoholic event and I had been told there would be peach beer. But hey, at least Ella slept really well on the way home.

Tonight we went to a barbecue at a friend's house. Ella was sporting the leopard print dress, and looking fierce! We had a good time, and then it got cold and we went home. Missed out on the marshmallow roasting, but that will be more fun when Ella is older. All I can say is that I am so blessed to have such a happy baby! She smiles at everyone and is just content to play and roll around on the blanket. She is so good in public.

She's off to bed and sleeping like an angel at the moment. Last night we decided to try a bit of tough love. Lately, she has been waking up between 2:30 and 4 wanting some attention from mom and/or dad. Usually, I go in there, change her diaper and feed her back to sleep. However, I don't want her thinking that she needs to be awake every night at 2:30am. After listening to the advice from several mothers, we let her cry it out. Luckily, she only cried for about half an hour before falling back to sleep. Then, she slept soundly until 7 when I was more than happy to feed her. They say it gets better every night and takes about 3-4 nights until the baby finally stops crying and just puts herself to sleep. So keep your fingers crossed! Anyway, I'm going to go to sleep, before Ella wakes up!

This one's for you, Kiley!

Hello, blogging community! This is my first attempt at a blog, so go easy on me, at least at first. I made a promise to my junior high best friend that I would do this if she joined Facebook, and a promise is a promise. So, anyway, I am going to be using this blog to chronicle my family's daily life. I'll start from the top. My name is Dara. I grew up in Nebraska, went to school in Nebraska, and started working as a RN in Nebraska. In 2004, I married my better half, Joe Buckendahl. In 2005, we moved to Grand Junction, Colorado. We bought a house, and then bought a dog in 2007. Apollo is a 2 year old Bernese Mountain Dog - the coolest breed of dog on the planet as far as I'm concerned. This year, we added to our family once more when our daughter, Eleanor, was born in February. She is now 5 1/2 months old and already trying to grow up to fast. She rolls around on the floor (on a blanket!) and has already taught herself how to turn on the Playstation and eject Dad's games. She has started solid foods, mostly sweet potatoes and squash. I'm beginning to think that she's going to like anything we put in front of her. And Apollo has gladly accepted the position of clean-up crew, enough said on that subject. Gross, I know, but it comes in handy when there is no burp rag in sight. And so with all of that said, you are all up to speed on the Buckendahl's. I will, of course, post pictures and exciting events. But right now, I am going to go for a walk with my two favorite people (alright, one's really just a dog who thinks he's a person), and then settle in for the night watching X Games 15 and eating a frozen pizza. More on us later!