Glad Tidings

Glad tidings of joy were FINALLY granted to my bff and her hubby today. They passed court in Ethiopia this morning, which means they get to bring their son home!

Take a look at Delaney's new boyfriend:

Check out Jake and Beka's blog for more info...
Auntie Karen loves you so much, Ayeresam Jacob!

9 Months

Today we celebrated 9 months of Delaney Marie.

When I asked Steve what I should write in this post, he said "Tell everyone she's awesome, she's crazy, and she makes monkey sounds."

Delaney is more than just a crazy awesome monkey. She loves people and animals, especially her Brundibar dog. She crawls all over the place and is trying her darndest to walk. Delaney has this adorable deep-throated chuckle that's contagious. She is thriving away, and has become an eating machine. Recently, Laney-cat has learned that when she throws her food on the ground, Brundibar cleans up after her. She really, really likes that game.

Steve and I feel so grateful to be Delaney's parents. She challenges us in ways that I never imagined, and I constantly find myself pleading for God's wisdom. And we're only 9 months into this parenting thing. But we love every minute, every stinkin' minute.

Thanks for making our world a better place, Delaney Marie.

Thanksgiving 2009

We spent our Thanksgiving this year up in Big Bear Lake, CA. We rented a cabin with Steve's parents, brother, and brother's girlfriend. We played games, ate yummy food, and Laney had a great time being the center of attention. Go figure! She had so much fun that she didn't want to waste any of her time sleeping. Silly baby. Delaney also got to experience snow for the first time, and kept trying to eat it. She couldn't figure out why it was so dang cold, but of course she kept going back for more. We're still learning cause and effect.

Eating turkey bird for the first time and loving it!

Arlene and Mike, AKA Uncle Monkey & Auntie Beans

Bath time in the jacuzzi bathtub. Not a bad gig at all!

Bare baby on the bear rug*. I think she's actually growling in this picture.
*No real bears were harmed in the photo op.

All bundled up in the snow with Nana & Papa

Feeling unsure about how that snow tastes...

Here Delaney's getting friendly with a local logger. There's something about that guy that seems familiar...

Steve wants this picture to be our Christmas card picture, but where's the fun in that? Also, we're missing a few key family members that ALWAYS make an appearance. We'll see how creative we get this year. It's hard to keep outdoing yourself, and making a dog, two cats, and a baby hold still for a portrait is a Christmas miracle in itself. If you have any ideas, let's hear 'em.

Delaney visits Pumkin Funland @ Rasmussen Farms

Uncle Jimmy

I am so far behind in my posting, but I couldn't bypass a quick post about a visit we received from my brother Jimmy. Jimmy decided spur of the minute to come visit and attend the OSU vs. USC game. He stayed for a few days and we had a great time just hanging out. It was pretty fun watching such a big teddy bear of a guy melt over his little niece's every coo. We love you, Uncle Jimmy!

Halloween

I am so behind in posting, but I couldn't let Halloween slide by without posting some pictures. We had a great time at our church's Trunk 'n Treat Friday night, and then we passed out candy to the masses that flocked to our neighborhood on Saturday. Good times were had with the cutest lil' pumpkin ever.

The Crawler

Here is a video from a few weeks ago when Delaney started crawling. She is much faster now, and difficult to keep up with. Enjoy.

Delaney's Fall Visit to Oregon

Getting her fill of fall weather while she can...

Our little trip to Oregon held many "firsts" for Delaney, Steve, and I.

Delaney's firsts included:
First time riding on a plane without melting down
First time being sick
First time crawling!
First time enjoying fall weather (seasons? what's that?)
First time in the rain
First time in a pumpkin patch, corn maze, and Pumpkin Funland

Steve's firsts:
First time attending a Beaver home game with the father-in-law
First time sleeping away from both his girls

Karen's firsts:
First time being away from Steve over night since Delaney's arrival
First time on an airplane with Delaney and without Steve

Yep, it was a pretty eventful few days. Steve, Delaney, and I flew up late Friday evening, and the babe did very well. There was some fussing, but to be fair it was close to bedtime and we all get a tad fussy when we're sleepy, don't we? The next day my mom and I headed up to my Grandparents' farm while Steve stayed in the valley to go to a Beaver game with my Dad. We were all relieved when the Beavs pulled through and beat Stanford. Whoot-whoot! We stayed up at the farm until Monday, and then Steve flew home. I went back to my parents' house and flew back in to Riverside on Wednesday. The flight home was great--Delaney did amazing, she flirted with anyone and everyone, and I was again amazed by the kindness and graciousness of my fellow traveling companions.

Delaney was running a low temperature most of the time, which worked itself out but did have me a but worried. Her appetite wasn't great and for goodness sakes, I am trying to fatten this kid up! She didn't lose any ounces during her sickness, but hasn't gained any for awhile either. Sigh.

Pictures? But of course...

Decked out in Beaver gear with Grandpa on game day.

Feeling under the weather and cuddling with Grammy

On the go with Uncle Jeff

Posing with Uncle Jimmy

My BFFs (Alison & Beka), as well as Beka's hubby and Alison's son came up to the farm to join the fall festivities. Delaney is giving Auntie Beka two thumbs up...

Checking out Great Gramps on his tractor

In the corn maze with Daddy, about to fall asleep!

With Great Grams

In the pumpkin wagon with "cousin" Jack, on the journey to find Delaney's "special" pumpkin.

Posing with the sign that was posted next to Delaney's pumpkin. The sign reads: "Please do not pick Delaney's pumpkin."

Here we are with one of the special pumpkins. When the pumpkins were just little things, my grandparents went out to the patch and etched Delaney's name into two of them. What a lucky baby!

Having fun with Grammy

Pumpkin head

The pumpkin and I are visiting family in Oregon. Check back later this week for a full re-cap.

Shoes

Today we put on shoes for the very first time. Delaney likes to accessorize.

Not 1 minute later, the shoes were off. If Delaney is truly a baby failing to thrive, I shudder to think what amount of energy would be required when tending to a "thriving" baby. This kid does not hold still!

Sailor Steve

The other night Steve and I took a break from being Dad and Mom, and spent some time being a rock star and a groupie.

Steve's band, Ann Lynn, played a show in Long Beach on Wednesday. It was so fun to sit in the crowd and watch Stevie make his classic guitar face. It's good to know that although life can change so much in 11 years, Steve's still the same sweet guy with his back turned to the crowd creating the atmosphere (that was a Dan Lance reference).

This is the face of which I speak of...

For the baby book

Delaney Marie got her very own library card today! That just means we're one step closer to learning how to read! I'm not sure which one of us is more excited about that prospect...

Half a year

A little over six months ago, Delaney Marie entered our world, and the universe is now a better place because of it.

We had our six month appointment last week. As many of you know, Delaney is not a chubby bubby, but she's so active and alert that we haven't been sweating the weight topic. Apparently our doctor has a different take on that issue than we do. Delaney weighed in at 12 lbs 3 oz. and 27 inches long, which apparently isn't "fat enough." In fact, the phrase that was used was "Delaney is failing to thrive." I was speechless, while Delaney continued to laugh, crawl around all over me, and attempt to eat my face off. The doctor than proceeded to list what needed to happen next: meet with a nutritionist, do blood work, pump and add oil to my milk, etc. etc. All pretty extreme stuff. I wish that I would have said a million different things to my doctor, asked a million different questions, but I was just trying to hold it together and couldn't get past the thought of my giggling baby hooked up to tubes and IVs, wasting away in some hospital.

Now that I've had time to process everything, I have a better grasp of reality and know that Delaney is a healthy, happy baby. My doctor is not a bad person, just a gruff lady who isn't a mommy and doesn't understand how off-handed comments can traumatize a hyper-sensitive-paranoid-perfectionist-first-time-mommy (that's me, in case you're wondering). EVERYONE that knows Delaney knows how healthy she is, and assures me that she'll be just fine. Not everyone gets to be a fat American from the get-go. If Delaney's curse in life is to be tall, thin, and gorgeous, she'll learn how to deal with the cards that have been dealt to her. Rough life.

We are trying to fatten her up, and I'm trying to just breath and do the best I can. We are adding oil to her cereal and doubling her solid intake, but if anyone has any other tips on putting some meat on my kid's bones, I'd be much obliged. We go back in three weeks to weigh in and meet with the nutritionist then. I'll keep you all posted.

Delaney Marie is not just a dot on a growth chart. She is INCREDIBLY active and talkative, and you pretty much want to gobble her up every time you see her. I laugh thinking about what she'll be like down the road--thinking that she'll be that chatty charlie girl that just can't sit still. She'll have to sit up next to the teacher, but everyone will love her because of her dazzling charm and friendliness towards others. Well, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. We don't have to tackle the elementary school years yet...we'll just focus on letting her be the baby that God created her to be.

I wanted to post some beautiful six month photos of the babe, but she just doesn't sit still anymore, so what you see is what you get. Thanks for listening!

She's finally getting hair (sort of), so Steve thought a mohawk was appropriate. Delaney agreed whole-heatedly.

Even though we don't wear much pink, we're still girly. This picture is for you, Auntie Andrea!

Drooling like crazy, with no teeth to show for it...

Not sure what to think of the camera's flash

So proud that she's able to sit up by herself!

Labor Day with the Millers

Yes, I am writing a post about our Labor Day festivities a few weeks late, but that's how things go now that I'm working part-time.

We got together with our dear friends the Millers and had a lovely picnic of pollo bowls and burritos at a spectacular park in Orange County. It was a lot of fun for us grown-ups to hang out and watch the babies interact. Delaney always enjoys spending time with Ben, who just might be a potential gentleman caller later on down the road. Thanks for the great day, Buck, Shannon, and Ben!

Silly Ben!

Say what?

Ben is a good friend because he lets Delaney eat his shoe.

Awesome baby prom pose.

Well, at least the grown-ups were looking at the camera...

For the fam

Recently my family has been hounding me to update the blog. I have been very busy with school starting up, which deserves a post in itself. So here's just two recent pictures to tide over the family:

Miss Delaney, kickin' it in her big kid high chair.

Labor Day family photo, courtesy of the Millers.

Success

It's funny how one word can have so many different definitions.

In my previous life (the one that didn't include Delaney), success was measured in varied ways. There were the big successes like finishing up my masters, buying our home, building a fence. There were also the little successes, like beating my previous 5k time, my students mastering a concept, or kicking Steve's butt on the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disneyland (which I do frequently).

But today, the definition of success took on a whole new meaning. Today I conquered Winco with Delaney by my side. Actually, she was strapped to my body thanks to the Sleepywrap, but you get what I mean.

By conquered I mean a full-on grocery trip with coupons, a ginormous list, and bagging my own groceries with my daughter kicking and grabbing whatever she could get her slobbery little paws on. Maybe this doesn't sound like a big deal, and maybe you're one of those uber confident mammas who always has it together and doesn't get flustered when your kiddo starts crying in public. But I'm not Super Mom yet, I'm actually an anxious perfectionist and it kills me that I'm not cool as a cucumber. It's what I'm working on. So tackling Winco was a big deal. And we did it all without a meltdown from either one of us.

This and That

I really do want to blog more, but nothing too exciting has been happening lately. Except for this:
I know what you're thinking, "Neat, another picture of Delaney and a cat." Wrong. This is so much more than that! This picture documents the healing process that Imogene has been going through in regards to the acceptance of Delaney. Up until this point, Delaney and Imogene's relationship has been purely one of cohabitation. But now, I think they're becoming friends. At least that's what I want to think. And don't mind the mound of clothes/blankets on the bed--it was laundry day.

Remember back in May when Steve graduated with his Masters? Here's a picture to refresh your memory:
Well, he wasn't technically done. He still had an online course and his comprehensive exams to pass. Of course Steve aced his exams and finished his coursework this August. We are proud to announce that Steve is finally a legitimate master of education. The Dunlaps are done with school, whoo hoo!

Finally, I leave you with a few pictures that Delaney's Auntie Laura Kobbs took of her. We had a chick flick day awhile back, and Laura snapped a few shots of Delaney. We love our Kobbs and are wondering why she doesn't have a blog for us to stalk?

Our beautiful daughter, in major need of a tan.

Why crawl when you could fly?