Whatta Week!

Aurora has come leaps and bounds with her progress this last week. It absolutely amazes me how fast she's growing and learning!

Last Thursday, Rori crawled for the first time!! She's been scooting and army crawling for a while and finally got up and did the real thing! She's completely mobile now and follows me around the house (albeit slowly). I'm definitely not used to her movement and I'm learning quickly what things she likes to get into :) She still mostly army crawls but she's getting better...and fast! She's a little cruiser!

She got herself wedged between the swing & bumbo

Just in the last week she became interested in standing against the furniture. She was pretty wobbly at first and fell frequently, but in just a couple days her improvement was amazing! Standing against the coffee table is seriously her favorite thing to do now. She also hasn't been interested in trying to walk at all, even with my gentle encouragement, but with learning to stand against the coffee table she's starting to walk along the table a little bit. Very slowly, mind you. It's so cute.

Standing so good!

Watching the fish

She also pulled herself up to the coffee table all by herself this morning! And she's done it several more times since then. This little girl learns fast!

Chillin' under the coffee table

Brushing her teeth :)

She is definitely saying Momma and baba. She's been babbling them forever but I'm pretty certain she knows what they mean and how to use them now--only when she wants to, of course. She's been really discovering how to use her mouth and one of her new things is the picture below--she pulls her lips up to her nose and breathes really hard. It's so stinkin' cute!!
She's also becoming a professional spit bubble maker. Silly girl (see video below, right at the beginning). We love you, Aurora, and all the new fun things you're learning! It's so fun to see your personality blossom!!

Mommy-hood

I love being a mom. Having this little girl in our home has changed my life tremendously in the last 8.5 months. She is amazing and I thank my Heavenly Father every single day that I have her in my life. She makes me laugh countless times daily, and I still can't get over her cute-ness--I don't think I ever will. I live for her snuggles and smooches. She's great at giving them to her Momma & I love her cuddles too. Best thing ever!

Despite all of my attempts to intellectually & emotionally prepare myself for mommy-hood through reading and observing the example of other moms--including my own mom and mother-in-law, my sisters, and my grandmothers, etc., I've realized that you really don't understand the incredible responsibility of being a mom until you actually become one. Being a mom is the greatest gift and blessing (as well as challenge) I could have ever hoped for, and I'm so grateful to my sweet husband and my Father in Heaven for making it possible. I know it's not a privilege everyone is blessed to experience in this life but that if they are faithful in this life the blessing to be a parent will come in the next.

I'm currently reading an amazing book titled "Mothering with Spiritual Power" written by Debra Sansing Woods. She's a great author. It's the second book of hers that I'm reading. I'm so grateful for her spiritual insight and inspiration. It makes me want to be a better mom to my sweet baby girl. One of the chapters I read today reminded me that it really does take a village to raise a child, and that we should openly and willing accept all the support we can get, especially from other moms. I just want to end this post by sharing a quote from the chapter that really hit home to me today, and I'm so grateful for her inspired words, and hope to be more supportive of other moms myself:

"The world seems to pay a lot of lip service to the importance of motherhood and honoring mothers, especially around Mother's Day, but in reality, it often seems to do more to diminish and even undermine motherhood than to esteem and support motherhood. And, in my opinion, the media--through magazines and television--seems to foster conflict among mothers by attempting to keep us at odds with one another rather than fostering a sense of community with each other that could be so helpful in raising our kids."

Another great dose of mothering inspiration came to me this past weekend as I attended the General Relief Society meeting. President Uchtdorf always seems to know exactly what to say to the women of the Church, and the world for that matter, and I'm so grateful for his inspired calling and responsibility. Read the highlights of President Uchtdorf's message here. Or watch his talk here.

It's just what happens when . . .

You are determined to roll onto your tummy while Mom is trying to change your diaper.

Mom leaves her clicky orange high-lighter within your reach and didn't realize you clicked it open when you're playing on the couch.

Dad lets you play in the blinds on the windowsill.

P.S. HAPPY FIRST DAY OF AUTUMN!!!
Time to whip out the Halloween decorations!!

P.P.S. Thank you, Blogger, for FINALLY making it easy to have a cute font!! It's MUCH appreciated!!

Honey Harvest

A week and a half ago Dar was able to harvest the honey for the first time from his first beehive. It's actually been a really neat experience to watch him learn about and take care of his first hive. He's done awesome, and I love seeing his face light up when he gets to go tend to his bees. He absolutely loves it! I can bet ya that we'll be getting a second beehive next year, although he hasn't said he wants another one for sure yet.

He was able to harvest the honey from 10 frames, although they weren't all full. When all was said and done he got about 4 gallons (weighing around 50 pounds) of honey!! I was so excited when I went to pick him up after he was done harvesting and was surprised to see how much honey he got! Pretty cool. If any of you are locals and know where we are, let us know if you want some raw local honey. We'll sell you some :)

Getting the extractor figured out

Scraping the wax caps off the honey

Bee wax that we're going to try to make lip balm and stuff with

Technology is so nice. Can you imagine spinning the honey by hand?

The honey is double sifted to make sure all the wax and stuff gets separated out

The honey is delish!! It looks great, tastes great, and the best part of all is that it came from our very own beehive! I think it's safe to say that Dar's first season of beekeeping has been a complete success :) Bring on season #2!

9.11.11 - 8 months!

I was visiting my cousin the other day and she asked how old Rori is now. I told her 8 months and her response was, "Wow! She's almost a year old already!" Seriously. Almost a year? Where has the time gone? Luckily we still have 4 more months before the 1st milestone birthday. My baby is still my baby, and she gets me wrapped around her finger a little tighter every single day. I admit it: I'm head over heals for our little lady. I love this little girl more than I can say, and I still have to pinch myself occasionally to remind myself that, "Yes, I am finally a mom to the best little girl in the world!"

At 8 months:
-Aurora is working on getting her 5th tooth!
-She's still not quite crawling, but she can definitely get to where she wants to be. Her little army crawl is adorable! (See pics below.)
-She prefers to fall asleep on her own most of the time now. We just lay her in her crib, play some music and she's out within minutes. I still try to rock her to sleep when I can and I love it when she lets me.
-She loves to yell and hear her own voice and loves it even more when we'll yell back with her. She can get pretty loud--especially in the car :)
-She's able to drink soy formula! We're working on switching her over to 100% formula now that we found one she can drink.
-She's still not really interested in eating solid food, but she does like her rice crackers. We're still working on the fruits and veggies.
-She gives great kisses and is working on learning to wave.
-Sometimes when she babbles it sounds like she clearly says her name. Other times when she babbles she sounds like an ewok from Star Wars. It's stinkin' cute!

Crawling:

She gets up like she's going to crawl all the time, and then gives up. Silly girl.

One way she gets around is by straightening her legs and pushing with her toes. I love seeing that cute little bum in the air! She can pull herself around pretty well with her arms too.

Bath time:

One of her favorite things

Swimming:

We haven't taken her to the pool a whole lot in the last couple months, but she still loves it when we do go. She likes to be as helpful as she can to get us out the door faster :)

Love her cute little robe! I love her face too...she's so inquisitive and loves soaking in her surroundings.

In her cute little swim suit. I love all her different facial expressions! She's such a serious baby too. Strangers will often comment on how serious she is. :)

Sleeping:

She sleeps for a good 10 hours straight at night, then takes 2 naps during the day. Usually between 1-3 hours long.

Mornings:

She usually wakes up before Dar leaves for work so she can say goodbye. She's started to cry sometimes when he leaves so we watch out the window so she can wave, or just watch him leave. To distract her when he's gone I sometimes turn on Disney Junior for her. She really likes Micky Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins (I promise I don't let her watch a whole lot). She also loves her giraffe pillow pet from Omie and Grandpa!

Dress Up:

I attempted to be crafty a couple months ago and made this cute pink tu-tu. She really just likes to eat it :)

Enlarge this picture and you can kind of see her two bottom teeth. I can't get enough of her little toothy grin!

We love you, sweet Aurora!! Happy 8 months, babe!

Grammy's Funeral

It was last Saturday, and today would have been her 91st birthday.  It's comforting to know she's at peace now and no longer suffering and in pain from her body failing.  That's what happens when you get old, I guess.

It was nice to be able to attend her funeral.  But it was pretty hard at the same time.  It's the first time I've been one of the family members to the deceased.  It was tough, but we all made it through.  And Grandma is at rest now.  We love you so very, very much, Grandma!!

And of course the photo documentation :)

My Dad and his 5 older brothers were the pall bearers

 

 Grandma's favorite color was yellow (mine too!) and there were lots of beautiful yellow flowers provided.

 Our family

 Me and the munchk

 Our beautiful baby girl.  She's one of 67 great-grandchildren!
(And I have 28 cousins)

 Sky and Bri checking out some of Grandma's pretty flowers

 All 8 of Grandma's kids. Man! They're goofy! :)

 With spouses

 Rori thought Uncle Skylar's earrings were pretty fun toys :)

 She was so focused!

Even with as hard as it was, we all laughed, of course we cried, and we comforted and supported each other. It was nice to be with my family...my hubby and baby, my parents, all of my siblings, so many cousins, all my aunts and uncles, and even more extended family. Grandma sure impacted the lives of so many people and left such an amazing legacy for all of us left behind. I'm so grateful I can call myself her granddaughter.

P.S.  Happy Birthday, Kirsten!  I know today's hard for you.  You're in my heart and my prayers!

9/11 Tribute

In case you're interested (which you should be) the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is joining forces with celebrated new anchor Tom Brokaw for a special 9/11 tribute on Sunday.  You won't want to miss it!  It'll be broadcast around the country.  Click here to find out when you can watch it in your area.  Click here or here to find out more information about this amazing performance.

Do you remember where you were on 9/11 when you heard about the attacks?

I do.

I was a sophomore in high school and had just gotten to my first class of the day--seminary.  My teacher had the news playing on the TV.  I didn't believe it at first.  It just couldn't be real--but unfortunately it was.  The rest of the day was pretty much a blur for me. I was privileged to go to the top of the World Trade Center just 6 weeks earlier.

Thanks again, Bill, Suzanne, and Messy!

Dar was in Brazil serving a 2-year LDS mission for our Church.  He was out visiting a home of a family and they had the news playing on their TV when he got there.  He came back to the U.S.  just a month later after completing his full-time mission.

Fun with cousin Koda

Rori adores her cousin Dakoda, and Koda loves Rori too. They are so funny when they get together, and Rori thinks Koda is the funniest person she knows. We just wanted to share a couple of cute videos we've taken of the two of them together. Enjoy!

P.S. Happy Birthday, Bean!! We love you!!