My little 6 month old!

I can't believe Alex is already 6 months old!!! Where did the time go? When everyone said to enjoy every moment because they grow so fast, they were not kidding! I thought I would take the time today to write a little about Alex, because she's becoming such an amazing person.

Little Alexandria is the funniest person in the world. She smiles all day long. If she's unhappy that she dropped a toy or wants to eat, she barely cries. She SHOUTS and GROWLS! Its some of the funniest stuff Ive ever seen. She is a very independent person. Sometimes she gets sick of mommy and just wants to sit in her swing alone.

Alex is also becoming one of the most curious little girls. She stares in amazement at all the pretty colors in the grocery store. And she laughs hysterically at the dogs when they play with the rope. When I say she smiles all day long, I am not over exaggerating. She's such a happy baby. When daddy comes home from work, she gets so excited she picks up her blanket and rubs her face in it, with a huge grin on her face. When she's really tired and fighting sleep, you can tell because her little eyes get all red and her tiny fists start to rub them. She's a night owl. She usually goes to be around 11pm, and doesn't wake up until about 9 or 10 the next morning.

She sticks EVERYTHING in her mouth. She's always trying to steal the phone from my hands, and if I am taking pictures of her, she wants the camera too. Last night was also the very first successful night in her crib. She didn't wake up once.

I have a very smart baby. She's hit all her milestones early. She is already going through stranger anxiety and doesn't like it when new people try to hold her. She looooves the wind, and always tries to take big deep breaths of it. I don't want her to get bigger. I love the way she is NOW.

I am having a blast being this little girl's mommy. I am growing a garden so she has the freshest most natural foods. I am trying to film her doing what she loves to do, and I'm really excited to show her when she's a little older. I loooove taking her to the park and letting her get some fresh air. I have about 10 nicknames for her, and I use them all regularly.

I love my little girl. I could think of a thousand more reasons to say why she's so amazing, but I'll keep those to myself. It's her 6th month old birthday today, so I am going to go play with her now.

It's my birthday soon!

I'm pretty tired today. Yesterday, I ended up getting a TON of new baby clothes and wanted to go through the clothes Alex has and put away what's too small. After putting a small tuberware container of onesies and sleepers away, I arranged her dresser, closet, and put her "too big" clothes away in a LARGE tuberware container. She has SO MUCH to wear. I don't think I'll need to buy her any clothes til she's 4 years old.

Other news, it's my 25th birthday on Tuesday. My mom is taking me out for sushi, and then my husband is taking me out downtown. I'm excited to have a night to go out. It's also Saint Patricks day, so you know there's always a party.

Also, Alex rolled over THREE times this morning. She was behind on learning to do that, so we had fun celebrating over that today.

My halo 3 disk isnt playing any more. I'm a little disapointed, but honestly, I get so frustrated when I play that game... There's so many nasty kids on that game, it makes the matchmaking unenjoyable. So, looks like it's call of duty for me for a while. At least until I can get resident evil 5 from my brother. I'm really not too interested in RE5, mostly because the camera and controlls on the demo is pretty annoying. RE4 was really fun... Also, what ever happened to ZOMBIES?!?! These baddies are not zombies? I miss those guys.

Anyway, it's time for Alex's nap. She's getting fussy in her jumper. Yelling at her toys. HAHA!

They say all things happen for a reason. Drunk driver=free trees?

Last week, I was about to give the baby a bath, and we heard a loud explosion. Then the power went out for a few seconds and came right back on. I asked my husband if he heard the explosion too, and he said he saw a bright blue light from the window. Since there was a telephone pole and a transformer at the end of our driveway, I asked the hubs to go check out.

Apparently, some drunk driver came down my road and demolished my mailbox and slammed into the support wire for the telephone pole outside my house. Surprisingly, the support wire had totaled this person's car. Long story short, we were told that we were getting a new mailbox!

So the person who took the mailbox out came by and told me that he would pay for the mailbox. So my husband and I spent the other day digging out concrete, setting the post, and installing a brand new mailbox!

Yesterday, while I was at the post office picking up my mail (since I had no mailbox) I noticed a sign on the door that said the local arbor foundation was giving away free trees, first come first serve. So my mom and I headed to the place they said they were giving them away. We ended up getting 12 trees! So yesterday, my mom, husband, and I spent a few hours planting a few trees around the property.

I didn't really know what they were going to look like when they got bigger, so I looked them up. I'm really excited that we ended up getting 2 of my FAVORITE local tree. It's called a redbud. It's one of those pink spring blossoming trees. We also ended up getting some oaks, walnut, and pecan trees. They're going to look great in a few years!!

Ive also discovered that a few of the random friends on my Xbox Live account have been stalking some of my clan members... So I had to do a friends list clean up last night. I also got to spend a few minutes kicking ass and taking names on Call of Duty 4.

Well, I say kicking ass, but honestly, I don't play that well any more. I wasn't positive on my kill/death ratio much. Oh well! It will come back.

I'm about to take the baby to watch me play some rock band or guitar hero. She really likes watching all the colors on that game. And I think she likes some of the music too. She has already expressed an interest in Explosions in the Sky and ZZ-Top. Very different artists... So I don't know. She does LOVE to watch daddy play guitar, though. So maybe she's just a baby rock star.. HAHA!

My Take on Mature Games and Children; Thank You ESRB

Along with this blog, I also write a weekly feature on http://www.girlsentertainmentnetwork.com/ about families that spend time playing video games as a way to bond. I'm getting a lot of interesting comments on the feature on the subject of children playing mature games. Games like Halo and Call of Duty and whatnot, and I thought I would give my opinion HERE, instead of starting a flame war on one of the lovely family's features.

Personally, as a very new parent, I am pretty sure how I am going to handle mature games with my daughter. The same way my mom did with me. I'm going to play the game first. There was no such thing as ESRB ratings when I was a kid... But those will come in handy as well. I get a lot of comments on letting kids play the more violent games. I understand not letting a kid play something violent, but there is the aspect of your child's understanding of what's real and what's pretend.

I would never let a 5 year old play call of duty. It's much too realistic. There are even some parts in the single player that made *me* queezy. But I would let a 10 year old play a game like halo. I honestly think Halo is a bit more cartoony. It has very little blood, the enimies are pretty funny, and it's about saving the world from aliens. Granted, as I mentioned above, it would really boil down to whether or not my daughter understood that the game she was playing was pretend. That, in the real world, someone cannot jump off a 25 foot ledge, and land like it was nothing. That when your character dies in the game, and you get to start from a spawn point, is not something that happens to regular little girls. When someone hurts themselves or dies, there's no restart.

It works the same way with TV. Will I let my dughter watch Star Wars? Of course! But I'm going to have to take the time to make sure she understands that the movie is not real. Otherwise, it's too early to intorduce that kind of entertainment.

I'm one of those parents that think kids should be kids as long as possible. My husband was thrown into adulthood at a very young age, and it's almost like he makes up for it now by acting like a child. I will make sure my daughter spends more time using her imagination rather than letting a game do it for her. I am a strong believer that fresh air and an imagination is enough to keep a child entertained for hours. It was for me.

Games are great, I love them myself, so I will not ban them from my child. They do offer a lot... Hand/Eye Coordination, problem solving, and it will be a way for all of us to spend time together. But it's not what life, especially as a child, is about. She should want to run, jump, play, and laugh. Not sit on her butt in front of a TV all day like a bump on a log.

My mom did it right with me. I could only play games and watch TV after dinner when it was too dark to go outside and play. If I wanted to get up early on Saturday morning and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while eating cereal, that was fine. Though, as soon as the cereal was done and the sleep was wiped from my eyes, it was TV off and time to play.

As far as games go, my mom always played the games either before us or with us. I have a distinct memory of being VERY upset with my mom because she would not let me play Mortal Kombat when all my friends were playing it. She knew what was going on in that game and that it was not the type of content she wanted a youngin' like me to see. The same thing happened with Phantasmagoria. She made me walk through the first few levels with her, and once she saw the game made me turn the gore off in the menu. As a 12 year old, I was mad that she wouldnt let me see the gore, but now as a 25 year old, I totallly see why she wanted to shelter me from it.

My whole point in this blog is that more parents need to be parents and judge whether or not the content of the entertianment thier children are viewing is approporate for THIER child. A movie may be PG-13, but that doesnt mean your child isnt ready to watch it at 10. The same goes for a 14 year old. It's about making the decision as a parent about whether or not YOUR child is ready for something like breif nudity or strong language. Take the time to play the games, watch the shows, and finish the movie before plopping a child infront of it. Ask them what they thought about it and make sure they understand what's going on. The difference between Hollywood and reality.

It's a parents RESPONSIBILTY to make sure they are monitoring these type of things. I understand not all parents have the time to sit and play through an 80 hour game to make sure thier kids will be able to handle what's on the game, but that's what the ESRB is for. They put a lot of hours into a game. Take into account multiple reactions of lots of people and that rating is there for a reason. Check the labels before you buy the game and read reviews. It only takes a few minutes to ask a clerk at Game-Stop whether or not a game has blood or sexual situations. They should be listed on the game's ESRB rating anyway.

Confessions of a Beer Snob

I have many vices in my life. One being games, another being chocolate. I would not consider myself a heavy drinker. I don't drink to get drunk. I rarely drink hard alcohol. I do, however, love the taste of a good microbrewed or imported beer. I like a beer like I like my wine. Something you should almost chew. Not that it should be chunky or anything like that, but more than something to guzzle down in hopes of a good buzz. The beer I drink is far to expensive to just guzzle anyway.

Today I am having Terrapin Rye Pale Ale. My husband is a HUGE fan of the pale ales. This was his choice. I wouldnt say I love a Pale Ale, but it's probably in my top 5 favorite beers.

I must say this is one of my favorite American style pale ales. It has a great hoppy flavor with a little bit of some citrus behind it. Not too citrus like some wheat ales, but a nice blend.

I can honestly tell you I don't judge a book by it's cover, nor a beer by it's bottle, but the cute turtle on the label was one of the reasons I decided upon this beer. There are quite a few breweries in the Atlanta/Athens area, and this is one of my new favorites. I know they have quite a few others (by the mixed pack available with a wheat and brown ale) that I would love to try.

On to my next sip, ladies and gentlemen. I think I'll enjoy this one... Goodnight!

Yay for Valentines day!!

What a busy few weeks! I can't believe it's Friday already... It seems like it was Valentines day just yesterday. The husband and I celebrated our first Valentines day as a married couple with a really really nice dinner with steak and lobster tail. It was DELICIOUS! He got me the prettiest gold necklace with a heart shaped pendant on it. I was REALLY excited. He's never been very good at getting gifts... but this just blew me away! We also killed off a big bottle of wine and had some quality time together. Best V-Day yet.

I spent some of the day taking pictures of Alex... they're super cute...

I also got my hair cut... Being a mom, it's hard to find time to style hair every day. I barely get time to take a shower, let alone do anything but pull my hair into a pony tail. I decided to get a shorter, easier to manage doo. It's really easy to take care of, and I can sleep and just wake up and brush it and it's lookin good!!

Alex has had a fever over the last 2 nights. It's been kinda scary as a mom, but she's happy as a clam so I'm not too worried. Doc said it's probably the shots she got that's raising her temperature. She's also teething. She has 2 teeth coming up right in the bottom middle. She's going to be SOOOOO cute when they pop out. She's not liking it too much, though. They're hurting her.

Otherwise, things are looking good. Valentines day is over and the next holiday is Hinamatsuri, which is the Japanese festival for little girls. Really, we're using it as an excuse to eat sushi and drink saki, but we like to celebrate holidays from other cultures. And what better holiday than the one for little girls?! Alex will enjoy it when she gets a little older.

Otherwise, Alex is fussing, and I'd really like to get in some Call of Duty 5; World at War before my brother gets his Xbox back and wants to take it away... <3

Wahoooo Mommy's New Toy!!

I got my laptop today! I'm blogging on it riiiight now! WAHOOO~~ Im so excited! I got a chance to play some Crysis and Battlefield 2 on it... it looks sooo great! I can't believe I can do all of this from my couch... so nice!

Tomorrow is a super busy day. I'm going to see about getting scholarship money to go back to school, shopping for baby clothes (she goes through them so quickly!!), getting groceries, stopping by the bank, etc etc etc. I have like 12 stops to make. All with baby in tow.

Alex had her 4 month appointment with Dr. Fernando today. She was so brave when she got her shots!! Im so proud of her! She's 26.75 inches and 17 lbs 12 oz. What a BIG GIRL! Her doc was really impressed when she tried to sit up on her own. He said she has awesome motor skills for a baby her age. Way to go, good genes!

Anyway, I have a TON of stuff to install on this beast... I better get to it. I also have to re-print out my tax returns to see about student funding. Laaame.

Later...

Busy day!!

My brother came over tonight! It's really cool, we're playing Call of Duty 4 and hanging out. He's so much better than I am... but he's also on an MLG team. So he should be, HAHA!

(That picture isnt at my house... that's from his myspace LOL!)

Our basement also flooded while he was here. Which is good because I wouldn't have had a single CLUE as to what to do. He showed me how to turn the water off and turn the water heater off. Then he helped me mop the floor and pick up all the soaked stuff. Thank god everything that was important was either in plastic or up off the ground. Its in my food closet, where most of my non-perishable food stuffs are... so I lost a few packs of ramen and a box of old VHS... if that's the worst thing that happened, I'm glad.

But now I have no water until the plumber can come over TOMORROW.. and even THAT is a maybe. Oh the joys of living in the country!! Anyway, it's been a buuusy day!! I made THIS:

She's so cuuute!! It's my first editing attempt, so it's kinda lame... But I had fun for the 15 minutes it took to put it all together!

Mommy needs some game time!!

I did my taxes as soon as they came in this year... YAY for me! Now I'm waiting patiently for my returns... I plan on paying off the last few months of payments on my car and buying myself a laptop... WHOOOO HOOOO LAPTOP! I'm so pumped, I havent bought myself anything expensive since I bought my Xbox 360. I need a treat!


Valentines day is also right around the corner. The husband will have to work late, and my mom has to work the next morning so she wont be able to watch the baby if we were to go on a late date, so I think we're going to celebrate our first Valentines Day as a married couple another day... We're just getting a bottle of wine and maybe some lobster for a nice quiet dinner at home. I think it sounds great.


Things have been going pretty good... Ive given up trying to make friends with my husbands friends wives. Theyre catty because one of the girls in thier group doesnt like me. I don't care though, its their loss... I'm fun and they miss out. Oh well!



It's sad though because a few of them have babies Alex's age, and I'm in need of some mommy-bonding. So I've been hanging out at some mommy forums lately. http://www.babycenter.com/ and http://www.baby-gaga.com/ are really cool. Ive met some local mammas and we're going to set up a play date... and theres other chickies from all over the US, its nice to have people to chat with about the everyday subjects new moms are faced with.



I'm really excited about my laptop. I'll be able to get Spore, and maybe start WoW again, because I can play where ever I am, and don't need to be attached to my desktop. I'm also excited to have a computer that will play the new battlefield 2 mod, project reality. Its sooooo fun looking and my hubs adores it. It will be fun to play with him.



I found a WoW account on craigslist.com I'm probably going to buy... because I don't want to start a new toon from scratch... Ive played so many RPGs and ran across so many world maps, I just can't stand to do it any more... So I figure I spend 45 bucks on a level 57 blood elf and just transfer to my server. That way I can hit 80 in a few weeks and do some raiding. I'm sure after that long my other toons are non-existant.



Other than that, I'm pretty much spent for today. It's been a rough couple of days, Alex keeps staying up later every night. She didnt get to sleep til about 3:30 last night. Boo! I'm going to have to do something about that. Anyway, I'm craving chocolate, I'm gonna have some cookies and relax!

Pregnancy, Labor, and being a NEW MOM!

This little blog post is more for me than anyone else. I'm the type of person who likes to have memories, dates, and special moments documented where I can see it. It helps me remember it when I look back.

*FIRST TRIMESTER*

How I found out I was pregnant: Home pregnancy test on February 18th, 2008.

First doctors visit: March 11th, 2008. Tiffany Few, MD.

First Ultrasound picture: March 17th, 2008! My 24th BIRTHDAY!!

Size: 14.6mm

Anticipated due date: October 30th 2008. I thought this was a little far away. According to this schedule, we conceived the week before I confirmed my pregnancy. I *thought* I was pregnant for at least a week before I got the test.

Heartbeat Heard: April 15th 2008. Dr Few said, "Wow! Strong heart!"

First Kicks: Early May 2008

How I'm feeling: Pretty good. Minimal morning sickness, but a lot of tiredness.

**SECOND TRIMESTER**

Cravings: Minute Maid push pops, strawberries, ice cream, Mexican and Chinese food, and anything with loads of garlic or cilantro.

Sex confirmation: IT'S A GIRL! Confirmed July 1st!!

Picked Name: Just the first name. Alexandria.

How I'm feeling: Really good. A lot of energy. No more sickness. Took part of my maternity leave to rest, playing a lot of games, and nesting.

***THIRD TRIMESTER***

First Baby Shower: August 30th, 2008. Hosted by April and Beth in Chattanooga, TN. We played guitar hero, rock band, and mario party as games.

Second Baby Shower: September 20th, 2008. Hosted by my mother in Cleveland, TN. Much smaller, with mostly family. Went to chilis and had lunch.

Moved into better place for babies: September 21st, 2008

Finished Nursery: FINALLY! October 2nd everything was ready for the baby!

Day before Labor: Having false labor all day. Competed in a Guitar Hero competition and came in 2nd Place! Also went to have ultrasounds taken. Doc's worried about weight of baby being small.

****LABOR AND DELIVERY****

Day: October 10th, 2008

6:00 AM: Woke up 2 hours before I need to get ready for work with stomach cramps. Thought it was gas. Went back to bed.

8:00 AM: Woke up as usual for work, but had a feeling the "gas" wasn't just gas. It was a little more painful and came in waves. Checked the preggo book and it said that's what contractions feel like. Called the doc and they said to go to L & D in the hospital. Called my boss, grabbed my stuff, and made way to Erlanger East.

10:30 AM: Arrived at L&D. Registered papers and went upstairs where they hooked me up to a beepy machine and checked dilation. Just over 1cm. Doc says to send me home. I started crying because I knew what false labor felt like. If *this* wasn't labor, I didn't know what it was. Doctor Few assured me that it WAS contractions and that I was going to have the baby really soon, but it's not time for me to be in the hospital.

1:30 PM: Husband took me to Red Robin for a burger and a salad.

5:00 PM: Met my mom at her house and waited through contractions. Neil was drinking a celebratory beer.

10:00 PM: Neil had almost a whole 6-pack of celebratory beer. Good thing my mom was going to drive us! Contractions staying 5-8 minutes apart, but getting more painful.

Day: October 11th, 2008

12:00 AM: Contractions are getting really painful. Decided that I couldn't wait any more and had my mom drive myself and my sleeping husband to the hospital.

1:00 AM: Arrived at Erlanger East. Re-registered and went upstairs to be hooked up to the beepy machine.

2:00 AM: Admitted to Room Lilac with 4cm dilation.

4:30 AM: Contractions are hitting 70's and 80's (out of 100) and decided to take the epidural.

5:00 AM: Pain free and ready to rest.

10:00 AM: Doctor came in and let me know I would be going into hard labor very soon. Neil was out getting everyone breakfast, so I told her I couldn't start pushing until my husband got back.

11:00 AM: Husband and mom were ready for me to start pushing. I'll spare the gross details, but I didn't feel a thing.

11:30 AM: Alexandria Sierra is BORN! 7lbs 10 oz! 21 Inches!

*****Being MOMMY*****

The first 3 months of being Mommy has been wonderful. Though for the first 8 weeks I didn't sleep more than 4 hours at a time... and it seemed that all I did was feed the baby, change her, and sleep when I could. Alex went to her first doctor's visit and saw Dr. Fernando. He's really nice and Alex even gained weight! Doc said a lot of babies LOSE weight, so Alex was doing really well. Still 21 inches. Alex started smiling and gabbing to us in no time. Now she likes to watch mommy and daddy play Wii games, loves the ceiling fan, and thinks getting "bonked" in the head by blankets is HILARIOUS.

Introducing....

I'm not new to blogging. I've been doing it for years now, but I've never had a site dedicated to just blogging. It's always been on myspace or facebook. I don't know what compelled me to start one here, but I like the idea.

I guess I'll start with myself. I'm 24 (25 in March) and I'm married. I have a daughter who's almost 4 months old and she's amazing! I live in Tennessee, but I was born in a suburb of Seattle. I really miss the Pac NW lifestyle but there's something to be said about Southern hospitality. I like having seasons. I like the hills these people call mountains, and I love some good old home-cookin'! The pace here is much slower, people are much sweeter, and the scene along the way is fantastic.

Essentially this blog is going to be about me, my family, my life as a gamer, and any other random thought that pops in my head. I'm not one to rant much, I like sarcasm, and I try to see the glass as half full (depending upon what's in it)...

(Myself and my husband)

I'm starting this introduction of myself, but havent said much about my family and whatnot. They are very close to me as well. Besides my husband and daughter, my mom is a big part of my life. She's always been my best friend and hero, and I'm thankful to have her in my life. My brother is also very close to me. We play a lot of video games together and I've always tried to be the best big sister I could be. I like to think that one day my brother and I can compete in a gaming tournament or travel to Europe for an adventure, just the two of us... but I think thats more wishfull thinking. We're both very busy people.

(Myself and the Lil Bro)

I grew up in Issaquah, Washington. My best friend Christa (who I refer to as "Dood" for future reference) I have known since I was just over 3 years old. We were connected at the hip all through adolecent life. We got into a lot of trouble and had a lot of fun. She's in most of my fond childhood memories.

I guess I will stop with the lame introduction. I could talk about myself and where I came from all day, but there are more important things to babble about. I'm actually writing a feature on http://www.girlsentertainmentnetwork.com/ about familes who play games together as a hobby. Instead of family movie night there's family Halo night... I'm thinking about maybe putting together a book about it. I'll probably talk a lot about that in the next few months, but for now, it's dinner time!