Drunk Eyes

Our funny little girl tends to open her eyelids when she's sleeping. She's done it pretty much since day 1, silly girl. I try to tell her that normal people sleep with their eyes closed but that doesn't stop her. Between the sounds she makes when she's sleeping and eating and how she opens her eyelids when she's sleeping, I'm beginning to think our sweet little one isn't normal. But we like her that way! :) It's just another one of the little things she does that makes us smile.


And here's some more random pictures from this past weekend:

Love that little "ooo" face!

My cousin, Alice, got these darling PJs for A. The hat is a cute little flower with a face on it, but whenever A wears it at night it always gets turned sideways and makes her look like a cute little rooster. Thanks to this hat she's earned the nickname "Rori Rooster." Love it!

No wonder they tell you to lay your baby on their back to sleep. She'd sleep face-down if we let her!

I didn't know D took this picture until I was downloading the pictures from our camera onto the computer. This was during our Sunday nap yesterday. But I now see where A gets one of her sleeping positions (see picture below). :)

Oh yeah! And bring on March & warm weather!!
We're ready for SPRINGTIME!!!

P.S. Happy Birthday, Uncle Monk!

Updates

I wasn't planning to put up a 6 week post, but we have so many cute pictures from the last couple of weeks that I can't resist posting some. And I seriously can't believe we've had this amazing little girl in our lives for 6 weeks already! Holy smokes! It feels like she's always been with us and I honestly can't imagine my life without her anymore. With A turning 6 weeks old today, we hit a major milestone this morning...she finally got a real smile out for her first time!! Yay!! She's been working on it for a while & I've loved watching her try to smile but only managing an adorable little smirk (I wish I had captured it on camera), although she has been smiling in her sleep for a while, but that doesn't really count. It totally made my day to see her smile at me this morning, even if it only lasted for a second. I just wish D had been here to see it too.

On Saturday A got to meet more friends and cousins. D's best friend was in town visiting and we got to meet up with him and his family for lunch & a little Wii playing, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. Then Saturday night we had dinner with some of my cousins, who also got to meet A for their first time. They were so excited to meet their new cousin!

A & her cousin, Jessy

Her cousin, Aeryka

And Robby

And then here's more random pictures, just for kicks and giggles.

Chillin' on the couch & watching Mary Poppins with Mom

She is sporting some major baby zits right now, but I think they're slowly getting better.

A's archer pose...she does this one a lot.

In the last week or so she's been finding something to put in her mouth when she's sleeping. Sometimes it's just one finger, or her thumb, the side of her hand, or the sleeve of her shirt. She doesn't really suck on it, she just wants it in her mouth.

Sleeping in with her Momma

Taking a nap the same day with her Daddy

And in honor of President's Day yesterday, here's A showing her support to bring back the Whig Party :)

Happy Tuesday!

Because of my two loves I am so blessed!

I know, I know. We're totally on blog post over-kill here, but I would really feel ungrateful if I didn't put this post up.

I was seriously thrilled that Dar got Valentine's day off--even if it was a furlough day for his school district and he doesn't get paid for it. No biggie. The time we got to spend together was well worth the decrease in salary! D surprised me by bringing home flowers on Saturday, and Sunday we got to just hang out and be together as a family. Yesterday for Valentine's day we braved the Valentine's crowd and went on a "family date" to the movies and out to lunch. It was so nice to just be together, and especially to spend our first Valentine's day together as a FAMILY and not just as a couple, ya know?

I truly feel so blessed to be married to the man of my dreams. He is my best friend in every sense of the word and I am a better person because of him. I feel so blessed to have sweet A in our family. I was reflecting this morning on the life D & I have had together over the last few years and how wonderful our lives have been with just the two of us, but how it just feels so much more complete with A with us now. My two honey's have colds right now (we won't mention my first-time-parenting panic yesterday when I realized A caught her daddy's cold and is congested up the wazoo) but they're both troopers and doing awesome despite the congestion. I keep asking myself how I got so lucky to have the most amazing husband and the best little girl anyone could ask for. But since I can't come up with the answer, I'll just soak up every second I get to spend with both of them!

Happy Valentine's Day!

When Called Upon In An Emergency

This is D on this post. Friday was an afternoon I'll never forget. As I was leaving school at the end of a long day, a colleague that I carpool with and I were walking out to the car to leave. We heard a screech of tires and a wump. My attention was quickly drawn to the street only to see one of our students being hit by a car. The force threw him on the hood, windshield, and ultimately on top of the car. As the car slowed from the intense braking, he was thrown forward off the car about 10 feet or so. (Later I found out he was skateboarding across the street and didn't see the car coming. From the sound of it, the car was going possibly 30-40 mph.) Immediately I sprinted over to the accident dropping my bag and coat in the parking lot (half wondering if my laptop was damaged in the drop.) As I reached the scene I realized it was one of my students, and he was screaming profanities in pain and confusion. There was blood all over his face and I swiftly directed my attention to his head to identify where the blood was coming from and to verify if his head had been damaged at all. I called for a cloth and eventually one of his friends pulled off their shirt and gave it to me. I was able to identify that a lot of blood was coming from his forehead where I put the cloth and pressure to stop the bleeding. I asked him if his head hurt, but he could only scream about his left leg. As he laid on the road both of his knees where bent up in the air. I grabbed his left leg, he screamed in pain as I tried to straighten it, and I saw the lower portion of his leg between his knee and ankle wobble left and right, and I knew that his tibia and fibula were completely fractured. So I went back to his head and I told him that his leg was broken and to not move it. His response was, "Will I be able to skateboard again?" I reassured him that he would; it would take some time to heal, possibly pins in his leg to stabilize his leg as it heals, and probably some rehab, but he would skate again. Soon thereafter we had two of our secretaries out there calling 911 and I was able to relay injury information to one of them. I found multiple lacerations on his face. He often would spit out blood and I asked him if he could tell whether he had any teeth loose or knocked out, but he couldn't tell. (Later I found out that he had a piece of glass stuck in his lip.) I tried to keep him calm and still until the paramedics arrived, holding his head, wiping blood away from his eyes, and getting blood on my hands. The police, paramedics, and fire department arrived about 10 minutes later and began to assess the situation. Naturally they put a neck brace on and used scissors to strip away some of his clothes to see if there was any damage to his neck, spine, and hips. He was scared and panicked and I had to explain everything they were doing to keep him calm. When they cut away the pant leg of the broken leg, the skin was warped where you could see the bone pushing against the skin. Since the EMT's had things in control, I took some pictures on my phone because I thought he might want to see what happened after he was calmed down. Two things that touched me the most was when he said, "Why did this have to happen?" I let him know that sometimes these things just happen, but that he would be fine. And then as the EMT's where preparing to put him in the ambulance, he said, "I'm scared," and his eyes welled up with potential tears. To see a tough punk kid overcome with emotional trauma was enough to touch anyone's heart. I encouraged him to be strong and hang in there until they got him to the hospital where they could relieve the pain. After he was put in the ambulance I took a look at the car that hit him. The bumper was broken where he was hit and the windshield was shattered with a grapefruit size hole through it. I went inside the school to wash my hands and console some of his friends, who were also former students of mine. They were also traumatized by the experience, one said he didn't even want to get on his skateboard at all. I didn't get to talk to the driver, but he looked about as traumatized as expected after hitting someone with a car.

On the way home, there was a lot of reflection on what happened. My colleague said that she was impressed with how quickly I reacted to the situation and took charge until paramedics arrived. I got thinking of how I've acquired those traits and I would have to give credit to my experience in the Boy Scouts of America. The training provided by the BSA program is centered around it's motto: Be Prepared. First aid is one of the first of many skills learned and is strongly emphasized. I've had so many great scoutmasters and leaders, but the most influential scout leader has been my father. He has always been there to teach me and prepare me for whatever may come. He was the one who helped me reach my rank of Eagle Scout and further my scouting experience. He even still guides me along as I am now the Scoutmaster in my ward and teach these boys even as I have been taught.

The rest of that day and night, the images of that experience replayed over and over in my head. It wasn't until Saturday afternoon when I called him at the hospital to see how he was doing that my mind was put at ease. He confirmed that both his tibia and fibula had been broken and the doctor had to put rods in them to stabilize them as they heal. Other than that and a few stitches on his face, he was doing okay. He told me he looked down the street but didn't recall see any cars coming. Then the next thing he remembered was laying in the street looking up at me and hearing himself screaming a lot. I'm very grateful that I was at the right place at the right time to take care of him. I hope that all of us can live up to the Scout Motto and be prepared when called upon in an emergency.

Families Can Be Together Forever!

I honestly can't say how happy I am to know that truth--that families can be together FOREVER!! I am so grateful today that D & I were married in God's beautiful temple 5.5 years ago, to be sealed for eternity. Now that we have a little girl of our own, my gratitude for this eternal principal has grown immensely. I continue to be amazed by Heavenly Father's love for His children here upon the earth. He does love us and He wants us to return to live with Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, for eternity! For more information visit the website for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints here or here, or leave me a comment with your contact information.

2-11-11

I honestly can't believe we've had our little sweetheart with us for a whole month already! She has brought so much joy to our family in this last month and we can't wait to see what the future brings!

Things we've been learning and especially enjoying about the munchkin:

-She's really a pretty good sleeper. She wakes up a couple times at night to eat & then usually falls right back to sleep.
-She loves to be held during the day & really won't sleep during the day unless someone is holding her. Momma doesn't get a whole lot done, & showering before daddy comes home is sometimes a challenge, but I'm loving & cherishing every second!
-She's healthy!
-How she sucks on that cute little bottom lip!
-The adorable sounds she makes when she sleeps & when she eats.
-Her beautiful eyes--we think they're going to be blue like her daddy's eyes.
-Daddy gets to help feed her--because she won't breastfeed. Stinker.
-She's smart! She already knows our feeding routine while she waits for mama to pump & she knows how to get mom & dad to do what she wants. She's got us both wrapped around her little finger :)
-She's little, which we love! But we're loving watching her grow & chunk up too.
-LOVE kissing those tiny little cheeks & fingers!
-She notches her eyebrows like daddy does when he's focused on something.
-She's starting to like bath time better & loves having her head scrubbed.
-She likes being in the car--as long as the car is in motion.
-She's a happy, mellow baby most of the time. She really only cries when she wants/needs something.
-And I honestly love the sound of her little cry & her pouty face.
-I could add a bunch of other things too, but I'll leave it at that.

I am LOVING being a mom! It's way better than I imagined, but it probably helps that we have a really good baby. It's so fun to be able to stay home & hang out with this little cutie all day. I am learning to adjust to not having as much one-on-one time with Dar, and it's been hard for me to have him leave to work on his church callings sometimes when he's been gone all day and I just want to be with him. But he's so patient with me and is helping me adjust.

D loves being a dad. He's so cute with A and always helps when I ask him to. No questions asked. He has really stepped up to the plate & I've learned so much from him about parenting already just by watching how good he is with A. He loves reading & singing to her & he can't wait for her to know how much he loves her.

We both agree that parenting is true bliss. Even with interrupted sleep!

We love you, A! We're SO happy to have you in our family!

4 Weeks!

Our weekend happenings.

Just warning you, first of all, that this post probably has way too many pictures for not having a whole lot going on. As if I didn't post enough pictures before Aurora was born, right? I think it's gotten worse. Sorry. You don't have to look if you don't want to ;)

My sister came down yesterday with her little girl, Dakoda, and my dad to meet A. Dakoda and A are almost exactly a year apart. I think it'll be so fun for A to have a girl cousin on each side who is so close in age. On D's side, A's cousin Sloane is exactly 11 months older. She'll be 1 this coming Friday, A's 1 month birthday. Yay for lots of girl cousins!

Meeting Aunt Bri

Dakoda really wanted to be close to her new cousin

Koda kept giving A loves, but A wasn't really cooperating.

Koda loves to play Just Dance 2, she calls it "Da Da," as in "dance." So cute!

And she took it upon herself to break in some of A's toys.

Thanks for coming down Bri, Koda and Dad! It was fun to spend some time with you!

Like all new babies, A sleeps so much right now and we just can't get enough of this beautiful little girl! We get a kick out of the cute positions she sleeps in and we often find ourselves taking lots of pictures of our adorable sleeping beauty.

She's smiling a little bit in this last one.
This is her cute Sunday outfit today--all ready for church! Too bad we're not taking her to church yet. She looks so stinkin' cute!

Happy Sunday everyone! And Happy Birthday, Ryan!

3 weeks!

Our little princess is growing! We took her in on Monday for her 3 week appointment and her stats were:

Weight: 6 lbs 10.5 oz (5%)
Length: 19 in (5%)
Head: 34cm (1%)

She's still teeny, but we like her that way!