4 Months

How is it that I can't remember my life pre-Abbi - like she's always been with us - but at the same time, I can't believe she's already 4 months old?? My little girl is growing up so fast!

This past month has definitely been my favorite so far. Her little personality is really starting to show, and she is so much fun!


At 4 months, Abbi:

• Is finally on a 3 hour schedule, and is much happier this way!! She eats, then plays for about an hour, then has an hour and a half to sleep.
• She doesn't always sleep for that hour and a half, but usually goes 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. I'm happy if she hits the 1 hour mark.
• Is sleeping so much better!
• Is actually sleeping in her crib like a big girl.

• Is rolling over like a champ. She's been rolling over since just before her 3 month mark, but now she will barrel roll all over the place. I guess it's her mode of transportation until she starts crawling!
• Loves to smile and laugh. She really is a happy girl!
• Is getting quite big. We go to the doctor in the morning, so I will fill in her height and weight upon our return. (But I know she's a big girl - you can tell from those rolls!)
• Wants to grow up too fast. She's already trying to get her knees up underneath her and I'm afraid she's going to be crawling much sooner than I want!

• Loves to suck on EVERYTHING! From blankets to toys to mine and her daddy's fingers...

• But her favorite is her thumb. She falls asleep every time with her thumb in her mouth. Good news is that I won't have to break her from a pacifier, bad news is that I have no control over the thumb...
• Is still fascinated with her hands, but is also now fascinated with her feet. It's not uncommon to find her with both feet in her hands when she is on the floor. And she even tries to suck on her feet sometimes!
• Is a stomach sleeper. I was paranoid at first, but everyone tells me that since she can roll over and lift her head, there is nothing to worry about. But it still doesn't stop me from checking in on her quite often!
• In fact, she prefers to be on her belly during the day as well. I put her down on her back, and usually within seconds she is over on her belly.

• Is going through a phase where she won't let anyone hold her but her mom and dad. She has let very few people hold her this past month. Hopefully she'll be over that soon!
• Isn't sleeping through the night every night, but does about half the time. But it's getting better all the time!

And here is the monthly chair picture. She's almost sitting up completely by herself these days . Does anyone know of a way to stop time so my little girl stops growing up?!?


And this is how you know the photo shoot is over and it's time to put the camera away!

Look how big I'm getting!!

Wordless Wednesday - Countryside

Horses and Goats and Dogs... Oh My!

Everyone has been writing about their wonderful weekends, and well, let's just say that our weekend of house cleaning and sprinkler system installing wasn't too exciting. So I'll talk about the weekend before instead!!

We had an extended family party to celebrate my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. It was held at my aunt and uncle's house - where they have all kinds of animals, including horses, goats and lots of dogs. The kids all wanted to go see the animals, so I went along with them.


Kacy's girls loved the horses. They were fearless, too - sticking their hands in and petting the horses.


I'm sure everyone knows who the Pioneer Woman is? I can totally see now why she loves taking pictures of horses. They really are glorious, beautiful animals!


Oh, I got some good laughs from these goats. Check out the hair-do on the one in the top left. Kacy, Janell and I laughed so hard! And the poor goat on the bottom - looks like he got stuck in the pipes. Who would have guessed that some goats would be so entertaining!?!


I don't even know how many dogs my aunt and uncle have - so many! But I loved the dogs and so did the kids. I actually think that my aunt and uncle breed a few of them, because there were baby puppies as well. So cute!


And I know I've already posted this guy, but I love him so much that I had to post him again!

Catering Festivities

I just have to start off by saying that I have an awesome family. My cousin got married a couple of weekends ago, and asked us to cater her reception. This isn't the first reception that we have catered, although we don't do it often. But looking at this spread of tasty food, I wish I could go back in time to have my reception at a place where we could bring in our own food so that the food would have been this good!
We all met up the day before at my mom's house to start the cooking. I felt really bad because I don't think I really was much help. Abbi was being quite fussy that day, so I mainly just hung out and held her. But it was great to spend time with my sisters and my mom!
The next day, Tami and Janell did a lot of the work during the day. Kacy and I joined them that afternoon to finish up before heading to my aunt and uncles house for the reception.
All thorough the reception, everyone was busy keeping the tables full. I, of course, had my fussy Abbi, so I did a lot of watching! But what an amazing family I have. Not many people can say that their siblings and mom are so talented that they could pull off a reception - especially with such great food all made from scratch! And Janell is doing it again this weekend - brave girl!!

Sleep Training - Day 3, 4 and Beyond!!

I just have to say - I'm so proud of my little girl! I don't even feel like I need to chronicle her sleep training anymore, because she has got this down! Believe me, I was prepared for a few weeks of tears, so my original thought was to blog about it for support.

And thank you all for your wonderful words of support. I was really afraid that I would be criticized for letting her "cry it out" but it sounds like this has worked for many of you. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for sharing your stories with me and supporting me!

But here it is, day 4, and I just put her down for the night without a peep. I do have to say that most naps and bedtime she cries for a minute or two, but there has not been one missed nap time since that first day. Her naps are not quite as long as I'd like them to be, but they are ranging from 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. (Most of them 40 minutes to an hour). And she did sleep through the night again last night.

The best part is that I am not having to rock her to sleep. Not that I don't like to rock her to sleep, because I think I'm really going to start missing that, but it took so much time out of my day. And I hated that before, no matter how long I rocked her, the minute I would put her down she would be awake again. Now, we go in her room, read a book or two, give her kisses, turn on her music and put her in bed. I walk out, and within minutes, she is asleep.

It is amazing. I can't believe this worked so fast.

So now back to regular posting. Thank goodness, because lately I feel like I have so much to write about!

Wordless Wednesday - Because It Can't All Be About the Sleep Training!

Sleep Training - Day 2

Well, hopefully I won't have to write about this much longer, because the second day went SO much better than the first!!! I was actually prepared for it to be worse before it got better, but it really was much better. I do have to mention that the goal for us right now is a nap for at least an hour for her daytime "designated" nap times.

The night before, I put her down to sleep at 8:50. I was hoping that she would sleep through the night again, and she almost did, but not quite!

3:10am - woke up and fussed. I let her fuss for 5 minutes before I went in, just to make sure she really was awake.
3:15am-3:40am - Fed. Put her back in bed where she fussed for a minute but then fell right asleep.
7:20am - woke up happy!!!
7:30am - Fed
9:00am - Put in crib. She fussed for a minute, but then fell asleep!!!
10:10am - woke up - she actually slept for an hour! Even though the "designated" nap time wasn't over, I took her out of the crib since she slept for an hour.
10:30am - Fed
12:00pm - put in crib. No fussing! She fell right asleep!
12:40pm - woke up crying. Only a 40 minute nap, so I left her there to cry
1:00pm - I got a bit lax here, because she was supposed to be in bed until 1:30, but I picked her up after crying for 20 minutes. At least she took a small nap without fussing!
1:30pm - Fed
3:00pm - put in crib. Cried for 7 minutes before falling asleep.
3:37pm - crying. Only a 30 minute nap this time...
4:00pm - I picked her up again after crying for 20 minutes. Oops
4:30pm - Fed
6:00pm - put in crib. Fussed for a few minutes before falling asleep
6:35pm - woke up crying. Looks like she is loving the 30-40 minute naps today!
7:05pm - picked her up out of crib
7:30pm - Fed
8:50pm - put in crib for bed, fell right asleep!
12:15am - woke up - I let her fuss for 5 minutes before going in
12:20am - fed
12:40am - put back down in crib - fell right asleep

I was hoping for no more 12am/1am wake times, but she had one here. Hopefully she'll completely drop those soon!

There still was some crying, but I am SO happy that she basically fell asleep for each nap time. She really is a smart girl, and I'm sure she's catching on to this routine. Now if I could just get her to sleep for more than half an hour for naps!

Sleep Training - Day 1

Awhile back, I was talking to someone who said that the thing that she doesn't like about blogs is that everyone always tries to make their lives look perfect - only talking and posting about the good things. Well, I do agree that most of what I post about are the good/fun things, because really - who wants to listen to me complain - but I'm the first to admit that my life is not perfect. And here is one example of that...

I've said before that I have a very dependent daughter. It has been much better as she has gotten older, but she is still very high maintenance. In the early days, I definitely spent more time holding her than anything - most nights she wouldn't even let me put her down.

In the last month and a half, she has learned to sleep nights in the pack and play next to my bed. I still would have to rock her to sleep - and most naps were spent in my arms. I love holding my little girl, but started feeling like I could never get anything done, and most importantly, I didn't want to set any habits that I would regret later on. She has also started becoming quite fussy around people - only letting me or Josh hold her. And quite frankly, it has been a little wearing.

Let me preface this next part by saying that I am not a doctor - and I can't tell you what is best for your baby. I know that every baby is different, and what works for you might be different than what works for me. Only you and your doctor can figure out the answer for you and your baby.

So my sister loaned me her copy of Babywise. I had read several books up to this point, but this book really stood out to me and really made a lot of sense for me and my baby. I read the whole book in one day, and was determined to start a new "system" for our family.

I started out the week before, stretching Abbi's eating schedule from 2 hours to 3 hours. I was really afraid to do this, because I didn't know how she would react (she LOVES to eat!!) but it went so much better than I expected. In fact, she is so much better on the 3 hour schedule! She seems happier and a bit less fussy, which completely surprised me.

Basically what I took from Babywise is that I need a predictable routine for Abbi. I want to teach her how to put herself to sleep, how to sleep in her crib instead of in the pack and play, and how to sleep without the swaddle blanket. I decided to go full on starting yesterday - Monday the 18th. I've decided to keep a record of how this is working out for us each day until I feel like she has started sleeping better. It may take 3 days, it may take weeks.

One thing I have decided to do - that I know some people won't agree with - is that I'm going to let her cry it out. This is the hardest part for me, but I also think that one of the reasons she has become so needy is that up to this point, we have come running every time she fusses. So many things that I read have said that a baby needs to know that he/she is part of a family - not the center of the family. Otherwise, you just can't operate effectively as a family unit. I thougth about doing the Ferber method, but it seems like if I go into the room when she is crying and I don't take her out rock her, she only gets more upset, so I'll be letting her cry it out. And I have to say - this first day, I shed a lot of tears. It's so hard for me to hear my little girl cry, but I know it's all for her good and for things to be better in the long run.

So here is a snapshot of day 1:

5:00am - woke up. She actually slept through the night from 9pm to 5am!!
5:00am - 5:20am - Fed her and put her back in bed (still swaddled), fell right back to sleep
7:00am - woke up. Fed her and played
8:00am - kind of ruined the schedule already, because I went on a walk.
8:30am - 9:00am - fell asleep in stroller on walk
10:25am - put in crib for nap
10:28am - 11:00am - cried the whole time
11:00am - picked up and fed
12:30pm - put down for nap - cried for 10 mintues before falling asleep
1:00pm - 2:00pm - woke up and cried
2:00pm - picked up and fed
3:30pm - put down for nap, cried for 22 minutes before falling asleep
4:32pm - woke up crying, cried until next feeding
5:00pm - picked up and fed
6:30pm - put down for nap - cried for 55 minutes
7:25pm - woke up crying - cried until next feeding
8:00pm - picked up and fed
8:50pm - put down to bed for the night - fussed, but fell right asleep

What a long day. She definitley cried more than she slept, and it broke my heart. But I know that it is going to be better in the long run.

I'll try to post the day-to-day until we get this down. But I will be posting about other things as well!! Who knows - maybe someone is going through the same thing right now and are looking for support. Maybe I'll be able to help someone!

2009 Garden

We have our garden planted! Actually, we planted it over a week ago, but I haven't had a chance to go through the pictures until today.

Last year, we had a ton of tomatoes - so many that we couldn't keep up with them. This year we went down to 4 kinds - 5 plants, but we went crazy on the melons this year! We made the garden bigger so that we could spread the plants out more this year, too. Our plants grow HUGE - I'm guessing it's because we use my Uncle Steve's "magic compost" and it makes for some great veggies!

The sad thing is that some of the plants aren't doing so well right now. We are in the process of putting in the sprinkling system, and the garden has been neglected a little bit. Which is not good with the heat we've been having the last few days. I've been out giving the plants some tlc today, so hopefully they will all survive and we will have a bounty this fall!

Plants planted:

1 - Lemon Cucumber
2 - Crookneck Squash
3 - Pickling Cucumber
4 - Burpless #26 Cucumber
5 - Zucchini Elite Summer Squash
6 - Honey Dew Melon
7 - Hale's Best Jumbo Cantaloupe
8 - Rock Star Cantaloupe
9 - Ambrosia Melon
10 - Sangria Watermelon
11 - Mama Mia Tomato
12 - Beefsteak Tomato
13 - Celebrity Tomato
14 - Sweet 100 Tomato
15 - Red Knight Sweet Pepper
16 - Sweet Basil
17 - Golden Summer Sweet Pepper
18 - Tiburon Poblano Hot Pepper

Smiles

I was at an anniversary party for my grandparents last night at my aunt and uncle's house, and was taking pictures of their many dogs. Later, I was looking over the pictures I took and discovered this one. My sisters and I got a good, long laugh over this! He's so ugly that he is cute!

One Year Ago

A couple of months ago, I was going through my purse and came across this notebook that I had. As I was flipping through the pages, I found this - written by Josh exactly one year ago today.

Friday May 16, 2008

Today is a great day! It is definitely tied for first place with the day I married Deborah. Right now, I'm lying on the bed of our hotel room in downtown Manhattan, New York City. I've always wanted to see New York and watch the Yankees play. That's exactly what we are going to do tomorrow. The Yankees are playing the Mets at 1:05pm. But that's not the best part. We found out this morning that Deborah is pregnant. I'm so happy and excited words can't eve describe how I feel. I love Deborah so much. She will be the best mother in the universe. I hope that I can be as great of a father as she'll be a mom. She deserves to get everything that she wants. It's so exciting to know my family is going to grow. I love my wife and family. It's the greatest day ever!

When I found this note, it made me cry tears of joy and happiness. And now I can't believe it's been a whole year since we saw those 2 lines on the pregnancy test. What a year it has been!

Abbi

I was going to post about something different today, but the pictures aren't quite ready. So instead, I'm posting another picture of Abbi - although in my mind, I could never post too many!! We had fun doing a little photo shoot yesterday, and I have quite a few pictures I loved, so you'll see more of them. But here's one for now!

Wordless Wednesday - Baby Hands

On Mothers

On my mother...

I don't think there are words to express my feelings for my mother. What a wonderful woman!! All I know is that I hope some of what she did wore off on me so that I can be the mother to my children that she was and is to me. I'm so proud to say that not only is she my mother, but also my friend. She has been there for me no matter what, and that means the world to me. I'm pretty sure that she doesn't read this, but I love you mom!!

On being a mother...

This Mother's Day is a whole new experience for me since I'm spending my first Mother's Day as a mother. And what a blessing that is! I always knew that I wanted to be a mother, but I never really quite realized what a rewarding experience it would be. It's the hardest, but the most amazing thing that I've ever done. I look at my daughter and I'm just overcome with love. I know I've only been a mother for just over 3 months now, but if the future is anything like these last few months, (and I'm sure it will just get better and better!), than I know I have a very happy lifetime ahead of me. I'm so blessed to be a mother!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers and future mothers!

"She who can paint a masterpiece or write a book that will influence millions deserves the admiration and the plaudits of mankind; but she who rears successfully a family of healthy beautiful sons and daughters, whose influence will be felt through generations to come,... long after paintings shall have faded, and books and statues shall have decayed or shall have been destroyed, deserves the highest honor that man can give, and the choicest blessings of God. In her high duty and service to humanity..., she is co-partner with the Creator himself" President David O. McKay

Tulip Festival

Did you know that during the middle ages, a single tulip bulb sold for the equivalent of $5.5 million dollars? I didn't either, until reading that at the Tulip Festival, held at Thanksgiving Point.

This is one of those things that I always wanted to do, but never have been able to because I was working. I just could never justify taking a day off of work for this, and I didn't ever want to fight weekend crowds. But now I wish I would have been going for years, because it was absolutely beautiful!

I joined up with Janell and her family one afternoon and we ventured through the over 250,000 tulips.


This is my sister and her cute family. Rylan totally cracked me up when he asked to take some pictures. Kevin handed him the camera, and he totally looked like a pro! He even paused after each shot to look at his work on the screen. I think we have a future photographer on our hands!!


I took so many pictures - it was hard to choose just a few to post! And this is one of the very few pictures I have of me and Abbi - I guess that's what happens when your the one always behind the camera!

At the end of the month, they dig up all the tulips and sell the bulbs. I'd like to go buy some, because these were gorgeous flowers!

Opinions

I still need to post about the Tulip Festival, but I'm still going through pictures, so maybe tomorrow!

But for now, I need some shopping opinions. I'd ask my husband, but he doesn't really care about things like this!!

First -

Our vacuum is going kaput. I can't complain, because we bought it right before we got married for like $60 - and it has lasted us this long. But now it smells funny when I use it and it's not working very well. I've always wanted a Dyson, but I've been seduced by the commercials for the new Hoover line. Or do I want an Oreck?

Do you have a vacuum that you love? Help - because I don't know what to buy!!

Second -

I've needed a new purse for awhile now, but I thought that after I had Abbi I'd just have the diaper bag with me, so I'd also use that as a purse. But truth be told - I'm tired of feeling frumpy, and the diaper bag makes me feel frumpy. So I want a new purse!! I need something that will fit a few diapers along with my things for day to day use, so something not too small.

I'm usually a boring black purse kind of girl, but I want something a little different this time around. I found these three bags that I like, so tell me what you think - or if you know of another bag I might like!!



I saw this one at Target (and I like how it looks in person better than this picture.) It's affordable, and big enough. But still just black and white. But I do like it!



I LOVE this bag that I found on Etsy, but it's a little more than I was looking to spend. I really like it - but I don't know if it is really big enough. The dimensions say it is 9.5" Tall, 9.5" wide at bottom, 13" wide at top, and 4" deep. Too small?



Or do I go with the same print on a bag that says it can double as a diaper bag? Or will I still feel frumpy? It's cheaper than the smaller bag, and I LOVE the print. I just want to feel cute again!

Please tell me what you think on both accounts!

Wordless Wednesday - Hat Baby

Supercross

The starting line

There are 3 things that Josh is really passionate about (not including people, of course!)

1 - Baseball
2 - Golf
3 - Dirt Bikes

If you would have asked me 4 years ago if I would enjoy watching motorcycle racing, I would have said no. But I guess that is one of the beautiful things about falling in love with someone and that someone becoming your best friend - you learn and love new things. I have to admit - I have totally gotten into supercross over the last few years!

Really bad photo of us, but the only one we got!

So when we found out that there would be a race in Salt Lake, we had to go. This was our first time out without Abbi. And we had a lot of fun. It had been raining all day, so that night it was very cold and I should have worn warmer clothing, but even with the cold, we still had a blast.

Our favorite - Chad Reed - didn't win, (in fact, he got robbed by another racer who was taken out of the race), but it was still fun to see it all in person. And it was a great night out for the two of us.

Our favorite racer - Chad Reed

The series of races always ends in Las Vegas, and since we love road trips to Vegas, we're thinking of heading down there next year for the finale. And in the meantime, we'll have to take more date nights out!

Our Weekend

We had access to a free condo in St. George this past weekend, so we decided to take advantage of it!! Josh had a really busy month in April and really needed a break, and it definitely was a break! We didn't do a whole lot - mostly just lounged around and napped. It was just what the doctor ordered!

Is there anything that you only do when you are on vacation? For us, it is a stop at Starbuck's for a Strawberry Frappucino. We stopped this weekend, and that is when I realized that in the last couple of years, we stop for one every time we are on vacation. But never when we are at home. Probably because they most likely have about a bazillion calories and I get to eat like that only when I'm on vacation. Yummm, makes me want to go on vacation more often!!

We did a lot of sleeping, which was great. I always want to take a time out during the day and take a nap, but that rarely happens since I feel like I always have something to do. That's when it's great to be away from the day-to-day - I could take a nap and not feel guilty that there is laundry to be done or bills that need to be paid. It was also a nice vacation from the computer.

We did go to a local college baseball game while we were there - at least part of it. It was a blow out, and we didn't want Abbi to get sunburned, but it was fun while we were there. I know Josh really liked being there, but I know that it made him really miss playing. Maybe one day he'll be able to get his knee fixed so he can at least play for recreation.

Besides that, there were just a few trips to Target and a couple of restaurants. But it was so good to take some time to relax that we didn't come home until today, instead of coming home yesterday like we had originally intended. Weekend getaways are great!!

Introducing...

Wow - that was fun. 31 posts in 30 days. I know I cheated a little a few of those days, but I can't believe what a challenge that was. But what it did was inspired me to write more and take more pictures. In fact, I have a lot more that I have saved to write about - but I will be taking a few days off this weekend!! (We are actually taking a little weekend vacation to St. George, so I will be computer-less!)

But before I take that break, I just wanted to let you all know about my newest venture. Yes, another blog. Like I need to spend even more time at the computer!! But I think it's something that just about everyone would be interested in.

So I know that we all like free things. I've done a few giveaways on my food blog, and they are always so fun, so I thought to myself one day - why not make a blog that is just about giveaways? That is how Foodie Giveaway was born!

So head on over - today is the official launch day - and tell me what you think. There will be a cookbook giveaway a week for the rest of the year, as well as all kinds of other food related items. And I know we can all benefit from free things in today's economy!

Check it out here