Behind the Times

Yet again, I am almost a month behind on Little Lady's updates. I was doing so well too! Things have been pretty hectic over the last few weeks. I have been wrapping up my last semester of my AA degree in transfer studies, preparing for my next semester (which starts in two weeks) in upper division work, housesitting for a week, and changing wards. But without further ado, here is The Lady's last month.

(click to enlarge)

At her last visit with Dr. W, she weighed in at 12 pounds and 15 oz and was 24.5 inches long. And here I thought she was a chunker all this time! Nope. A lot of changes have taken place this last month. She has rolled over more and started to say "die" and "guy" and "tata". She has finally changed her mind about baths and LOVES them. She is holding herself up with her arms every once in a while when on her tummy. And she has staring contests with Dexter Dog.

She also outgrew her swaddling blankets which made me really nervous because that was originally the key to getting her to sleep through the night! After one rough night, she was down and out for the count at 8:30 and not a peep until eight the next morning. Whew! That was a close one.

She is such a fun kid. She goes wherever I go and never complains. What a trooper! I truly enjoy being her mom and can't find a real complaint, myself. (Not to say I don't complain, let's be honest...) I really can't believe how quickly time goes by!

Relieved the Sleeping Fairy isn't Swaddle-Exclusive,

D

5K Day

Last weekend Nana, Lady and I headed out with about 150 women from our church and the community to participate in our annual 5K. We had done it once before a couple of years ago and both years, the weather was perfect! It was high 70s with a great breeze!

(click to enlarge)

Lady slept for the first 2 miles and then woke up just in time to cheer us on to the finish line. It was a great way to start off our morning and our weekend! Little more than three miles and exactly three generations!

Soaking Up Sun and Having Some Fun,

D

Super Late Update

Yet again, Little Lady is about a week away from her next month birthday and I'm posting for last month... Someday I will catch up with her.

The beginning of February called for a handful of pinpricks from her doctor; three to be exact. She did great! She whined for a few seconds and then proceeded to take a little snooze. Whatta champ! She was a little sore the next day, but nothing compared to what I was expecting. I'm not so worried about getting her ears pierced in the near future any more.

Little Lady definitely found her voice this month! She loves to be "a part of" my phone conversations, always putting in her two cents. It cracks me up! She is also filling out her 3 month clothes pretty well, so I've prepped all of her 6 month clothes, although I am really hoping not to dive into that batch too soon!

(click to enlarge)

She loves to smile and stick out her tongue every chance she gets. And she is as fascinated by our dog Dexter as he is by her. She has started accompanying me to my religion classes at Institute and gets passed around about half a dozen people before the hour is up. She soaks up attention.

All of that attention has apparently been going to her head as she has begun adding tools to her manipulation box of not-so-goodies. The most obnoxious, by far is the "cough". She does this pathetic, repetitious "cough" that reminds me of a ticked-off teen (subtly) demanding attention by clearing their throat and thinking "excuse me!!" Oy vey! This can't have started already!! Luckily, it doesn't happen everyday.

Attempting to Postpone the Pre-teen,

D

Sunny Soiree

As promised, here are a few pictures of the soiree from after Little Lady's baby blessing at the end of January. It was so fun to have a house full of kids and a day full of sunshine! A few of my cousins and their beautiful and fun children came as well as my Aunt Katie who was so busy behind the camera, that I don't have a picture of her in front of it. Darn it.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Full of Love From Family Fun,

D

Rounding Second

I realize that in just a week Little Lady will be three months, but school has kept me too busy to have posted her two month update, so here it is...

In her second month, Little Lady started smiling (and not just for gas!). It was so fun to watch her face light up and try a million different things to make her smile over and over again. She also started sleeping through the night (8-10 hours)! Knock on wood everyone that she keeps it up!!! We were only up once a night before when she slept in her cradle, but when I brought her into bed with me she would sleep great. I tried to figure out what was different. In the end, swaddling her ever-wandering arms and giving her a heavy blanket was the cure.

She also had her first bottle. It's nice to be able to go to church or religion classes or on a day trip and not have to worry about wearing the right thing to be able to nurse her. This is a big plus for me!

Her legs are getting stronger and stronger. She loves "standing" and can hold her own body weight really well, she is just a wobble-master. When she isn't on her feet, she is hanging out in her bouncy chair (which is the best $20 I ever spent)... She likes to smile and flirt with the dangling woodland animals that she makes dance.

(click to enlarge)

She is such a fun, happy little girl. I feel so blessed to see her smile every day and night (yes, she smiles in her sleep... must be some good dreams!). She is getting bigger by the day, weighing in at almost 11 lbs and 21" long. Some of her newborn dresses are now 3 month shirts... Oh how time flies!

Tossing a Watch Out a Window,

D

One Blessed Baby

Little Lady had her baby blessing in church a couple of weeks ago. Her Grandpa D performed the blessing while surrounded by Papa Rob, my brother-in-law's grandfather, her Bishop and home teacher who all participated.

The dress Little Lady wore was made by an amazingly talented sister in our ward, who, despite her own many projects and the holidays, found the time to make this gorgeous gown. Nana picked out the pattern and I spent hours in a fabric store 38 weeks pregnant trying to find all of the right components, but it was well worth it.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

We were also blessed to have so many members of our family who came out to support Little Lady on her big day (well, second big day after her birthday, of course...)! She was surrounded by so much love. My Aunt Katie also shared her great talent as a photographer so that we could have these memories forever. Thank you! I will soon post pictures of the little soiree with all of our visiting family. 

Feeling Blessed Myself,

D

Celebratory Surprises

Little Lady and I were more than spoiled this Christmas. It was full of great surprise gifts! The first surprise came when I got a call from my sister a couple of days before Christmas telling us that her and her husband were going to drive in from out of state the next day to celebrate with us! Once here, they couldn't get enough of Little Lady. She didn't mind all of the lovin' either!

(click to enlarge)

As per family tradition since I was a kid, Little Lady got her first Christmas Eve pajamas and got started off with her first stocking and a little Santa hat... Surprise, surprise, she didn't like wearing it very much!

(click to enlarge)

I also got Little Lady her first Christmas ornament. It's a choking hazard for now, but someday she will appreciate it!

(click to enlarge)

I was very surprised how generous family, extended family, and church family were in ensuring that Little Lady had plenty of gifts to open. We both were excited for all of the little trinkets and outfits. She was so excited that she fell fast asleep...

(click to enlarge)

The rest of us made out pretty nicely also. Surprisingly, half of us ended up with slippers this year, but they were much needed for chilly feet this winter!

(click to enlarge)

I don't know whether Sis or Little Lady was more snuggled with the other... They were pretty inseparable, which was fine with me as it was nice to have two arms again, even if it was only for a few days.

(click to enlarge)

Another great surprise was Papa coming to wish us all a Merry Christmas. It took about one minute after he walked in the door for him to get Little Lady in his arms, that was not a surprise.

(click to enlarge)

Our last holiday endeavor was trekking to the Oakland Temple to see the Christmas lights. I stayed nice and warm in the Jeep with Little Lady while everyone else weathered the freezing wind up on the hill. The lights, nativity and decorations were beautiful, even if we were only there for ten minutes.

Overall, it was a great holiday! Another great surprise our family had was a very generous Secret Santa who doorbell ditched our house every night for almost two weeks, leaving a wonderful surprise each time. Not only was it fun, but it made us feel so loved and blessed. They were pretty sneaky so we never discovered their identity, but thank you whoever you are!!

Very Merry,

D

Studies and Parties and Pink, Oh My!

Life has been so hectic these last few weeks with preparing for Baby D and trying to cram finals and final projects in with three weeks less than everyone else in school. Some how, though, I was able to squeeze in a baby shower that was so graciously given by the women in my church; my extended family of sisters.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

That evening was so fun and quite delicious! I was truly blessed with great friends and wonderful memories. Not to mention, I went home with some awesome loot! I can't think of anything more that I could possibly need for when Baby D first arrives. And I think I am almost used to all of the PINK!!

With only 10 days left until Baby D's debut, I am looking forward to tomorrow being my last day of school this semester, Thanksgiving just a couple days away and few days in there to spare for nesting and relaxation.

A big congratulations to cousin Stacy, Aaron and little Jake welcoming baby Kaia into the world yesterday!

Ready to Wind Down and Eat Up,

D

Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock

Earlier this week marked 50 days until my due date! I can't express how excited I am to meet Baby D! A lot of preparation has gone into getting ready for her: baby shower, flu shot, H1N1 shot (ouch!), and lots of other things.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a Relief Society activity called Super Saturday. They offered a dozen different craft activities and I was able to make bibs from kitchen towels! I am sure they will come in very handy in the VERY near future!! It was a lot of fun to spend the afternoon with my mom and other women from our Relief Society.

(click to enlarge)

Preparing for Spills and Thrills,
D

Color-Coordinated Days

Boy is life busy these days! I started school back in mid-August, but only now with my first round of midterms behind me am I feeling the full-force of this semester. I have only one semester left to earn my Associates degree. I've been playing catch-up with my degree ever since I did the whole "military thing" right out of high school. My degree is an AA in Transfer Studies which gets all of my general education requirements out of the way so I'll only have upper-division coursework when I transfer.


This semester I am taking 14 units, which consist of:

• Music: Theory
• Music: Vocal Technique
• Music: Concert Choir
• Music: Piano
• American Cinema (Film)
• English: Research and Writing
• English: Critical Thinking and Writing

Having school six days every week gets a little overwhelming, but I've been blessed with impeccable organization skills which I have decided to implement. (I think the implementation is what makes the difference this semester... ha ha) For whatever reason, I don't think organization reaches it's fullest potential unless it is color coordinated. This, for example, is my weekly planner broken down by week, day, and hour, with color-coded to-do lists for each class and other miscellaneous things:

Yes, every week looks like that. At least until Thanksgiving which is when almost all of my professors have allowed to me to end my semester instead of mid-December. Otherwise, I would be due the week before finals and that's just no bueno.

Nothing else is really new or exciting, I've been too busy for new and exciting! I have another ultrasound next week, so that's something to look forward to. I actually have a few fun things this month that will be a nice break from school, first starting with General Conference this weekend. General Conference is when the leaders of the Church all gather and broadcast to the world a number of inspired messages in a series of meetings twice a year. I'm really looking forward to it.

Other than getting more "robust" (to say the least) and more learned (or so I hope!), everything is the same-ol' same-ol'.

Increasing in Belly and Brains,

D