Peek-A-Boo

I have been trying to figure out how to put videos up for quite a while now. I'm not sure why, but I could never get them from the camera to my computer. I still can't get them onto my computer actually- they are all on my parents computer! Anyway, to make a long story short-- FINALLY I have figured out how to upload videos! ...ok, Bryan figured it out and made me look silly for not knowing how- but that's not the point!

Without further adue- Here's Michelle playing Peek-a-boo! (hey that rhymed ;))

How Cute is she!?! I LOVE this girl!

I have a lot more pictures and videos I want to post, and a lot to blog about so stay tuned! These videos take for-freakin-ever to post so I have to have a good chunk of time available to sit at the computer.

Oh- and P.S.- Michelle had her 6 month appointment yesterday and everything went really well! She's in the 50th percent for her height and head, but the 90th for her weight! lol, she's my little chuncker! And she only got two no's on her development chart which Dr.Katz said was really amazing. He said that meant that was was actually closer to a 9month old developmentaly. We're so proud of her!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Here Comes Susie Snowflake!

This morning was so much fun! First- we woke up to Bryan running at full speed into the bedroom yelling "Randi get up! IT'S SNOWING!" I stood by the window with Michelle for a little bit to let her see the snow, but quickly decided it would be way more fun to let her actually feel the snow. And just like any kid would she LOVED it!

After we played for a little bit we had to come inside and get bundled up. You can't really tell in this picture, but Michelle had her first blow-dry to get her hair all de-snowed, and she has a huge mohawk!

After getting warm, the plan was to start our daily routine and go play in the living room, but Michelle was so happy just looking out the window!

Thanksgiving is over, the tree is up, and Susie Snowflake has come to town- Merry Christmas everyone!

Pick a Pumpkin

Bryan and I went to the pumpkin patch a few days before Halloween to pick out a good pumpkin. I think we picked the cutest one there!

We had lots of fun at Michelle's very first Trunk-or-Treat! We even ran into Uncle Daniel aka Alvin (from Avlin and the Chipmunks).

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

God's Sense of Humor

I know I don't usually post on Sundays, but this just couldn't wait!

At 9:00 this morning I had a presidency meeting- leaving Michelle to Bryan's care. Well Bryan decided that while I was at my meeting he was going to take Michelle for a walk. When he came home, and my meeting was over, it was almost 10:30 so I had just enough time to feed Michelle and get us out the door and to church on time. While I was feeding Michelle I asked Bryan how his walk was. He told me that it was very relaxing and that Michelle had actually taken a nap. He then explained that while he was on his walk he got a strong feeling that we should stay home from church today and study our scriptures together. I reminded him that there is a reason we go to church and that we are not able to get that from reading the scriptures. He responded that he knew that and that in his head he knew we should be going to church, but he really felt that we should stay home and spend time together reading scriptures. After a few huffs and puffs I told him that if he really felt strongly about it that he could stay home and read, but Michelle and I were going to church. Well, he huffed back and said that he REALLY felt like we were supposed to do things as a family today! I told him that he should pray about it and let me know what he felt after praying. So he did. At this point there was only about 2minutes left before we had to leave or we would be late. After two minutes of me packing Michelle up and putting her things in the diaper bag I asked Bryan if he had gotten an answer to his prayer yet. He told me that he had not and in his head knew that we should go to church even though he had felt that we should stay home so Bryan got into the car with me and we went to church. Once we got there Bryan noticed that Michelle felt wet and needed a diaper change. Well, we were already running late so I told him that I would change her after sacrament was passed. He said ok and we headed into church. Well as soon as we sat down Bryan smelt the smell of something that smells smelly so I picked up the diaper and wipes and took Michelle from Bryan to go change her. As I was walking past I noticed a rather large smudge of poo across Bryan's shirt. I told him to quickly grab Michelle's bags and we headed out the door. When I got into the mother's room I realized that I also had a larger smudge of poo poo all down the front of my shirt. We came to the realization that, as a family, we had been crapped on. So what's the moral of this story? Listen to Heavenly Father's promptings or you'll have a crappy day.

He thinks He's sooooo funny.

Chicka Chicka ABC

As many of you know I am a collector or children's books. I was looking on-line and found a board book called Chicka Chicka ABC. This happens to be a story that I have always liked, and thought it would be a great first book for Michelle. I've had it for a while, but didn't really think Michelle was old enough to enjoy it. Apparently I was wrong! Michelle likes to read, and really likes this book! We've read it so many times that I have the book memorized- this helps so that Michelle can hold the book while I recite the words on each page.

She likes it when Bryan holds her and reads to her too! She gets so in-to the book it makes me laugh. I think she gets it from her Dad ;)!

What Time Is It?!

Michelle has a very predictable schedule.

"I'm ready for bed at 8:00. I'll eat a bottle and nurse for 20min. I usually fall asleep halfway through nursing, but will keep eating while I drift in and out of sleep. I'm usually in my crib, and totally asleep by 8:30. Mom and Dad come to bed around 10:30, but I never wake up when they come in. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper. I'll stay asleep until 2:00am when Mom has to get up and feed me. I go right back asleep and don't wake up again until 5:30 or 6:00. This time I just need someone to come cover me back up because I kick my covers off through the night. Once I'm covered I'll fall back asleep until 7:30 when it's time for everyone to get up!"

She has had this schedule since she was a month old. Without fail- this was her schedule.

Then, one night last week, I woke up at 4:00am and realized Michelle hadn't woken me up yet. I panicked a little and went to check on her. When I got to her crib this is what I saw:


And she stayed that way until 6:00am! I couldn't believe it! All on her own she started sleeping through the night! Now, before you go getting all jealous you should know- this only lasted a week! The last two nights she has woken up at random times wanting to eat. I'm not sure if I should just let her fuss, or if she's going through a growth spurt and really needs to eat, but man... I sure do miss last week!

Bug

Everyone, meet Bug! Michelle LOVES Bug. He is, by far, her favorite toy. He goes with us in the car. He comes to church. He goes to the grocery store. Everywhere Michelle goes, Bug goes too!

She talks to Bug.
She gives Bug Kisses.
Michelle Loves Bug!

Bye Bye Baby Bath

Well, Michelle has officially out grown her baby bath! Not only does she like to splash with her feet, but she started wanting to control the water hose.... let's just say she wasn't the only one who needed a towel after her bath!

Benson and Claire

You may have noticed that I have added a button on my sidebar. A friend of mine posted this button on her blog and asked that everyone go and read Benson and Claire's story. My interest was peaked and I followed the link. After reading about the trials and adversity that this family has been through, and is still going through, I couldn't help but feel the need to spread their story. I'm not the kind of person that would normally do this, but for this family... my heart really goes out to them.
Bryan and I have had our share of troubles, but after hearing about Claire and Benson I can only think about how incredibly blessed we are! We have a beautiful, healthy, and happy little girl that brings us so much happiness every day! Our Father in Heaven has truly blessed us and I couldn't be more grateful! I LOVE my family!

We don't need no stinking bumbo seat!

Michelle has been growing up so fast! She's starting to want to roll over, and sit up. She'll arc her back and push with her leg to try to roll over. Then with a little push from Bryan or I she'll flip right over onto her stomach! We are so proud of her! She'll also hold her arms straight up and start fussing untill we help her to sit up. She can sit on her own as lond as she's either holding our fingers or proped in a corner. I told Bryan we should get her a Bumbo Seat to help her lean to do it on her own. After finding out that a foam shaped seat was going to cost him $40 he exclaimed, "We don't need no stinking bumbo seat!" and proceded to make his own. He actually did a pretty good job, but it's not very portable...and usues almost all of our pillows! Here, see for yourself:

She really liked it! But I'm still going to try and convince him to shell out the $40 and get a real Bumbo Seat!

Baby Prison

Inmate #061609

Lol! Bryan and I couldn't help but think that Michelle looks like a little baby prisoner in this outfit. And the look on her face just screams "Mug Shot"! I love it!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Daniel! I can't believe one of the "babies" of our family is already 17!

And what did he get for his birthday? Car Stuff of course!

And just in case you're wondering- we had a red velvet cheese cake from cheese cake factory for his birthday cake. It's awesome! If you haven't tried it yet you really should!

And Happy Birthday Mom! No, she's not 53...or 35... I'm not sure why we did that...


So, what did mom get for her birthday? Cards and love from her family! Mom was happy because she got more cards then dad, and according to mom, that means "I win!"

Grandparents Day

I'm not sure how many people know this, but a few weeks ago was Grandparents Day. Jessica came over and borrowed my dad's camera to try and get some cute pics to put into frames for all of the grandparents. Unfortunately Clayton wanted to play with the camera more then he wanted to be photographed so... his pictures all came out as close, close, close-ups! Jessica is a great photographer though and got some too cute pics of Michelle!

Even though we did get some great pictures we didn't end up giving them as gifts. Jessica and I both got so busy that day that we totaly forgot! -I know, we suck! Sorry grandma and grandpa! We'll do better next year!

Upside-down fun

Ok, so Bryan and I are trying to get Michelle to stop crying when my Mom walks up and says "Let me take her", and, of course, without waiting for a reply from Bryan or I, she took Michelle and went into her bedroom. It cracks me up when mom takes her because Michelle can scream and scream and my mom isn't phased at all! Anyway, she had Michelle laying on her bed and was playing with her feet when all of a sudden...

Upside-down Baby!! It scared me at first, but after seeing how funny Michelle thought it was I relaxed. It is pretty cute...

Speaking of pretty cute, I got a hair cut! I haven't had a hair cut in four or five months, so I'm loving it! What do you think?

Lots to Catch Up On #4 (and final)

Michelle is getting so grown up! She has grown out of the newborn stage and is now a full-on tantrum throwing, big grin smiling, love you and cuddle you in the morning, hit you and yell at you at night, lifts her legs to help you change her, melts her mom and dad's hearts kind of baby! Have I ever meantioned how much I love this little girl?!

Lots to Catch Up On #3

Michelle's New Trick:

She had a little help at first...

But guess what happened when we let go?!

TA-DA! She can hold her own bottle!!

But only for a second or two...

Lots to Cach Up On #2

This month is just full of birthdays for our family! Yesterday was Ben's Birthday and today is Tom's (Bryan's dad) birthday! Plus Daniel's on the 17th and Mom's on the 30th, but we'll talk about them later!

Ben has been super busy lately with school, work, and extra odds and ends jobs, so we haven't seen too much of him. He didn't even get to take his birthday off! I know Jess has been missing him and to show him how much she loves him and thinks about him when he's not around she got him something special to celebrate. I'm sure Jessica is going to blog about what she did for him though so I won't steal her thunder! Happy Birthday Ben!

Tom is such a great grandpa! He and Lori come over to see Michelle and make sure that we go over to see them as much as possible! Lori and Tom are always getting Michelle new clothes and the cutest outfits! Bryan and I have talked about what wonderful grandparents they are and how much fun they are to hang out with every time we see them! Thanks- and Happy Birthday Grandpa Tom!

Lots to Catch Up On

Well there's a lot of blogging that I have been wanting to do, but I haven't gotten around to it. So- now that Michelle is down for her long morning nap- I'll do it now! First I want to wish my dad a very happy birthday. Dad turned...well, another year older (but is still surprisingly young to be a grandpa with two grandchildren) on September 7th. We didn't do a whole lot for his birthday, but, in our defence, every time we asked "what do you want?" or "what kind of cake do you want to have?" or "what would you like to do?" we got "oh, I don't know." or "I'm not sure, let me think about it." We did have cake though- actually we still have cake. We got a HUGE red velvet cheese cake from the Cheesecake Factory. It's delish! And we made sure dad got to make a birthday wish by blowing out the candles...err, candle.

Bryan and I got him the perfect card! It had a little note from "your daughter", "your son-in-law", and "your grandchild" already on the card. All we had to do was sign it!

Since Michelle is still too little to write her name, or even hold a pen while I move her hand to write her name, we put her hand print in the card. It turned out really well, I think.

Happy Birthday Dad!

In Her Father's Arms

To Etsy or Not To Etsy?

Bryan and I have been trying to think of ways to bring in a little extra money every month. One of the things we have been talking about is for me to open up an Etsy account and start selling scrapbook pages. I've looked though a few of the other Esty accounts and it seems like people are selling them anywhere from $25 for one 12x12 page, all the way to $3.50 for two 12x12 pages! So the questions are-

Do people actually PAY for scrapbook pages?

How much should I charge for a page?

How do I ship scrapbook pages?

Anyone have any advice? I'm not sure if it's going to be worth it or not.

2 Months

I can't believe it's already been two months! Then again I can't believe it's only been two months! It seems like Michelle has always been a part of our family, and I can't imagine life without her, but, at the same time, I'm amazed at how big she is! It feels like we just brought her home yesterday, and already she's growing out of her newborn clothes.

I remember how much she hated getting a bath, and how silly she looked when we gave her a mohawk...

Now, she's starting to like the water, and doesn't mind the mohawk as much ;) !

Good grief... I just love this little girl!

We had our two month appointment yesterday. She's getting so big! Her weight (11lbs 3oz) is up to the 50%, her height (21 1/2") is up to 25%, and her head (38cm) is still 25%. She is healthy and developmentally right on track! She has a rash under her chin so we got cream for that, and then Dr. Katz left and the nurses came in. I had been dreading this part of the appointment since we made it a month ago. She got immunized for Rotavirus (this was in a liquid that she had to drink), DTaP/Hib/IPV (those three were all in the same shot), Prevar, and her second dose of Hep B. THREE shots! Yes, I bawled right along with Michelle when they stuck her...and then again last night when she was trying to eat, but couldn't because her legs were so sore... and again when she finally fell asleep and was finally not feeling any pain. I hate shots! At her 4 month appointment she has to get two more, but this time Bryan won't be able to come with me... I'm already feeling sick about it! Honestly- it's not right to make a mom hold down their baby while they get shots! Until then, I'll try to not think about it, enjoy her smiles, and look forward to hearing her laugh for the first time!

A Name and a Blessing

On August 2nd we were able to give Michelle her blessing. Bryan did such a wonderful job. The spirit was so strong during her blessing. We were also so pleased to have so much support. Bryan's whole family came to sacrament just to see her blessed! It was really nice to have my family (Mom, Dad, Jess, Ben, Clayton, Daniel and Katie (Ryan had to work :( )) sitting behind us, and Bryan's family (Mom, Dennis, Grandma Jo, Dad, and Lori) sitting next to us. We took up two center benches! When Bryan and I were talking about who to have stand in it really hit us how many people we have grown to love in our ward. After making a list of everyone we wanted to ask we decided to seriously cut back the number of people. In the end we had my Dad, Bryan, Ben, Daniel (holding the mic), and Brother- Johnson, Beer, Harden, Terri, Porter, and Longhurst all standing in! It was such a wonderful moment!

After her blessing I had to hurry away to pass out the RS newsletter, hand out birthday candies and then, during third hour, teach the YW combined lesson. After church we all met back at the house for lunch. Soon after lunch was over Jess, Ben and Clayton had to get back to hooterville and Bryan, Michelle and I were in desperate need of a nap! All in all- it was a great day!

A Whole New Baby

Since Michelle saw the doctor and has been taking her medicine she is a whole new baby! We do things now that she never would before. Instead of crying all day we...

Play with cousin Clayton

Amuse Dad by "playing" Wii Sport ResortAnd smile a whole lot more!

Quick Update

Just a quick update:
Well we went to the doctor's office about Michelle's fussiness and it turns out the she had acid reflux. The doctor prescribed some medicine for her and within 3 days she was good as new. No more crying anytime we weren't bouncing her! I'm so relieved! I've been taking lots of cute pictures and will try to get them up as soon as possible.

All she ever wanted...

This is the face we have been seeing a lot lately. Michelle has been REALLY fussy anytime she's awake and we can't figure out why. She even fusses while she's eating! In fact the only time she's not fussing is when she's asleep or being bounced. That's right- not cuddled, not swinging, not sucking on a binky- Bounced! So I've called the doctor about this and am currently waiting to hear if he would like us to come in for an appointment, or if I'm just being a new mom and am making a big deal out of a "normal" baby behavior. On a happier note- she melted my heart yesterday! Bryan and I were in our room getting ready for bed when Michelle woke up and immediately started crying. Bryan, being the good daddy that he is, picked her right up and started bouncing her. So he was bouncing her and bouncing her and it wasn't working. My mom came in to see why she was crying for so long and offered to take her and give it a try. So now grandma is cuddling her and trying to sooth her. Well she tried for a few minutes and we were still having no success! At this point I was starting to get that feeling of "my poor baby, someone do something to help her!"and I think my mom could tell. She handed Michelle over to me and guess what... Instantly stopped crying and was content and happy! All she ever wanted was her mom! It's those moments that I just want to squeeze her, but I know that will hurt her...so I don't.

Photo Shoot

As I predicted things have been super busy. I've done a pretty good job of taking a picture a day but posting that many pictures would be insane. Instead I'll just pick a few of my favorites and post them when I get a chance. We recently went over to Mimi Porter's and had a photo shoot with Baby Michelle. These are a few of Bryan and I's favorite pictures from that shoot.

And my personal favorate...

Michelle also had her two week appointment and we found out a few interesting things and a few things we already knew. Being a first time mom I didn't know how long I was supposed to be breast feeding, but I was pretty sure feeding for an hour every other hour wasn't normal. Turns out Michelle isn't a very good eater yet (we're still learning) so we're going to breast feed for only 20 minutes now and then if she's still hungry we'll bottle feed her formula. That's the new information. We also found out that Michelle is a tiny baby, but we already knew that! For those of you who don't have kids yet I'm going to explain these percents. Before Jessica explained it to me I never understood what they meant. SO- being in the 50% means that your baby is average. Anything over that means your baby is larger then most, and under that means your baby is that much smaller then most. That being said- Michelle is in the 10th percent for her weight, 25th percent for her height, and 10th percent for her head size! She's little!

And now my little angel is crying so I've got to go! I'll try to post again soon... wish me luck!