eight

YEP... another month is in the books and the littlemiss is eight months old.

8eight8 whole months.

We took full advantage of the beautiful day today and celebrated from almost sun-up to sun down. The only bummer of the day is that daddy-o is out of town this weekend and missed out on all the fun. :(


(photo courtesy of Gina and Instagram)

I carted LJ along to cheer us on in a little pick-up game of tennis on our neighbors' court. She was a great cheerleader squealing and kicking each time the ball bounced and flew!
(BTW... still loving everysinglething about Thursday night tennis lessons with Coach Karl-with-a-K and the girls)

Pretty soon she got bored of hanging out, watching us play tennis so we needed to be on the move... we weren't quite ready to go back indoors, so we took a nice walk to the H Rock with G (another something I've been loving lately... 6:30am H Rock walks with the girls)

I think she was even happier than me to finally see the sun shining in these parts...

And by the time we got home.... look who was all tuckered out and fast asleep:

And as an added measure of celebration, today momma officially kicked off sno-cone season (in honor of the occasion of course).

Turns out they are just as yummy as I remembered!

A pretty good day if I do say so myself.

***

A few other highlights and newflashes from this past month:

She's big enough and sitting up well enough to ride shotgun in the carts as Costco. She looks pretty proud and happy to me.



She is literally rolling and scooching all over the place. No where near crawling... but figuring out how to get where she wants to go. It doesn't take her long at all to be under the furniture and across the room...

The days of leaving her to play unattended on the floor are pretty much gone.







She's drinking out of a straw like a pro. She figured it out about a month ago and can put down the water now like a lush. :)


Bringing the indoors out. :)

In addition to weekly playdates with cute Sawyer, we've also spent a few fun afternoons with some of our best girls, including Leah's cousin Lydi. This picture makes me so happy. I'm not sure two little girls could be any cuter. It's just going to continue to be more fun as they are finally starting to notice each other a little more! :)

And lastly, our little bathing beauty is still absolutely loving bathtime. Even her sourest of moods disappear when she realizes it's time for a bath. She's starting to throw a little attitude when it's time to get out and get dressed. We're having to let her stay in a little longer these days just to play and I have a feeling that's just going to get worse the older she gets. But when she gives me that little smile, somehow I don't seem to mind! :)

I feel like a broken record, but I can't say it enough....

I LOVE BEING HER MOM.

I feel so lucky and so blessed and so, so happy!

Happy Eight Month B-day Babyroo!

the year of the mini & stay 'cations

Every year since CJ and I have been married, we've saved for and splurged on a big, long vacation or two each year. Travel is something that we both LOVE to do... and it kinda seems like we don't function as well if we don't have some kind of trip on the horizon to look forward to.

Well this year is a bit different with a new littlemiss in tow... so we decided that it would be the year of the mini-vacations and close to home stay-cations. No super long flights, no super long trips but enough short close to home get-aways to keep our batteries charged! It's kind of a year-in-training of sorts for all of us and our new chapter of family vacations.

We started to wonder if the sun was ever going to shine this year in our neck of the woods... so for our long Memorial Day weekend, we decided we better go searching for it. It also gave us a chance test drive LJ's thoughts on roadtrips. Yikes.

We took off for St George on Friday morning, not knowing what to expect would happen in the backseat. Turns out, it wasn't pretty. She did great until about Spanish Fork (which by the way, is about 15 minutes past her longest car ride to-date) and then it felt like she screamed all the way to Beaver (I think there were a few short periods of reprieve in there... but they were definitely few and they were definitely short). We finally stopped to eat, stretch, feed and play which made that last hour to St George much more pleasant!!

(Thankfully our drive home on Monday afternoon was much more pleasant as she slept nearly the entire drive. thankyouverymuch)

I kept trying to tell her (through her tears and screams) that it would be worth it when we finally got to where we were going, but I think 7 1/2 months is still a little young to reason with?

Luckily... once we arrived, donned our swimsuits and hit the pool, she agreed that it was worth the drive and was nothing short of delightful for most of the weekend!!

We got her a pool floatie so she can relax, hang out and kick in the pool without having to be held. She LOVED it. She would kick and splash and then when she'd get tired she'd just lay her head down and relax. Several times she was would close her eyes and nearly fall asleep. I'm pretty sure she was thinking that life was pretty, pretty good! :)

When she wasn't in the pool, she was soooo good to just hang out in her stroller and watch all the people. It was heaven and allowed momma and daddy a little relaxation time to replenish our lacking vitamin d.

She's such a content, low-key baby most of the time.

It kills me how big she looks in this picture... sitting up by herself, sippin' a nice cold drink.

She's growing up waaayyy too fast for me.

*


One of my bffs lives in St George and we managed to get some together catching up and hanging out. We snuck off for Saturday morning pedis and left the daddies in charge for a little while. It was heaven and desperately needed!!

Saturday night we met Jill and her husband and enjoyed dinner at Benja Thai & Sushi. It was incredible! We even ran into another SLC bestie who was down there with his family for the weekend. It's a small world in a small town.

Sunday afternoon, Jill and Matt had us over for a delicious dinner and more great company! Leah LOVED all the attention from her adorable kiddos and she loved the loads of new toys that they shared with her.

Leah (sporting sweet potatoes), Paxton and Sena

A St George trip wouldn't be complete without a trip to the temple grounds. Such a beautiful temple. Unfortunately it was a little chilly that night and we weren't quite dressed for it... so a few quick photos was all that we got.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. Leah is getting to be such a good little traveller and doesn't seem to mind sleeping in all these strange jail cell type cribs....

(in fact, she even seems to like it)

even when it looks like she's clawing to get out...

(she's used to snuggling up against her bumper at home when she sleeps... here, the only thing to snuggle up against is cold metal bars with her limbs hanging out. somehow she didn't seem to mind)

The C*K*J's at the end of a warm, sunny and happy weekend together!

She's never seemed to love her crib more than when we finally made it home after that long drive!

Home*Sweet*Home

***As hard as I tried to run away, hide and ignore it, another birthday seemed to find me on our journey (I'm now officially closer to 50 than 20, sigh). The good news of it all is that I was spoiled rotten with treasures, treats, suprises, love and well wishes. Thanks to everyone for all the love!

XOX

one year ago today...

... this journey got so much more real, more interesting and so incredibly much more fun.

and she has made me happier than I ever imagined possible.

It's crazy the difference a year makes... no longer a mysterious stranger occupying my body, she is now the light and joy of my life!!

never too little for love...

Nice *spring*ish days have been few and far between around here this year. I have felt a little bit like if I blink when the sun is shining... I just might miss it. Really, I've sort of felt like that about spring in general this year.

I have been anxious to get downtown to enjoy the beautiful spring flowers, which let's be honest, is one of my favorite things about one of my favorite places. There haven't been many days lately even remotely worthy of any degree of enjoyable outdoor time...but yesterday was beautiful so before we could blink... we were off!!

We met Leah's boyfriend Sawyer and his cute mama Allisen and started things off right with an amazing lunch at the Blue Lemon. It didn't hurt my feelings that they just so happened to be celebrating their 1st anniversary and rewarding guests with delicious, free cookies.

free+cookies=one of my favorite combinations.

After enjoying the fountains at City Creek, we were off to enjoy the spectacular spring sights, smells and sounds of Temple Square and the surrounding church grounds. It really was so beautiful!

The sun was shining.

The breeze was blowing.

The birds were chirping.

The sky was mostly blue.

The grass was freshly cut.

The flowers were in full bloom.

The backdrop was as breathtaking as ever.

And my little babyroo was at my side.

As good as it gets?

I certainly think so!

And the best part was these 2 cute babies...

I'm pretty sure Leah loves this boy already.

Just 4 days a part... they were born to be buddies.

Can you even stand how cute they are staring at each other? I mean come on!
GAWWW!


And then they both look at us as if to say...


"seriously mom, you're embarrassing me!"

never to little for love, indeed.

(more adorable photos on Allisen's blog here)

a little of this and some more of that...

I've liked this week a lot.

Like, a lot alot.

Maybe it has something to do with the 70° temperatures or all of the playdates with family and friends? Or maybe it's me trying to cram in as much as I can as the end of my "mid"-thirties looms ahead and the potential mid-life crisis awaits?

I can't really be sure, but here's some highlights that have had me smiling all week long...

My first ever "I picked you some flowers, Mama" bouquet. LJ got to spend an afternoon with Gram & Gramps and Auntie Jo this week while I took care of business. They played games, sang songs and went on an adventure walk. I couldn't love these flowers they picked for me along the way any more.

Lots of playdates in the park with Leah's little friends and their amazing mama's. She is a big fan of swinging. She was so laid back in there that I maybe could have left her there all day?


Feeling the sand in her toes. Mostly she wanted to eat it while checking out all of the other kiddies.

I'm going to really concentrate on enjoying the heck out of this summer with a mostly immobile baby. I've quickly realized, spending some quality time at playgrounds recently, that I am going to really need to let go of a good portion of my OCD tendancies if I want to enjoy this motherhood thing. There are some sick, sick things that go on at those playgrounds and it doesn't make me at all sad that Leah isn't big enough to touch many things yet. Yikes.

This year, we're pretty content to just hang out and let the grass tickle our toes and watch the craziness from a safe and sanitized distance! :)

Dream Summer!

And LASTLY....

Tennis lessons started this week!!

Quite possibly the best money I have spent in a long, long time. Coach Karl-with-a-K laughed and wasn't quite sure what to think when the 6 of us came charging in with barely a clue, but he quickly learned that although we came with the intentions of a ridiculous good time, we're all business when it comes to learning how to play tennis. Thursday nights are pretty much my new favorite night of the week.

Thank you spring for making good on some promises!

Let's keep it up!

Mother's Day Weekend

We were desperately in need of a quick little get-away and Mother's Day seemed like the perfect excuse! Even just a short 45 minutes away was far enough for us to hang out, relax, re-connect and re-charge.

We took full advantage of the 75+ degree temps that have been virtually non-existent so far this spring and spent a heavenly afternoon poolside, replenishing our Vitamin D.

Leah was so good. She spent much of the afternoon just hanging out in her stroller completely entertained by all of the kids running, screaming and splashing about her. She was in heaven. We made sure that she got plenty of pool time with mama and daddy too. Based on the smile she has on her face, I think it's pretty safe to say that she LOVED every minute of it!

It was so lovely to take walks and check out the beautiful flowers and scenery. We were able to visit with some goats, watch a beaver swimming up stream, feed the ducks and feel the sun on our faces and the wind in our hair. It was so beautiful!

We met up with our good friends on Saturday night to enjoy a delicious dinner at Tarahumara. It was a lovely evening of patio dining, great company and incredible food. I think it's pretty safe to say that no one went to bed hungry that night.

After Sunday Brunch at the Homestead, some quality time with the ducks and a short morning nap, we were off to spread our Mother's Day love with the grandmas and the rest of our families...

First stop was lunch with G & G Johnson, who also celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary just a few days prior. What a great accomplishment!

After spending time there and getting plenty of attention, it was off to dinner at Auntie Sharon's with G & G Nelson and most of the Nelson clan. Leah loved being around people all day and loved all of the attention.

Leah and Grandma got plenty of Mother's Day snuggles.

And of course she got some time in Grandpa's swing, which clearly she can't get enough of! :)

This picture pretty much captures our weekend....

"I can't believe that we are STILL partying. This is the best weekend EVER!"

****

Once we finally got home late Sunday evening, we were all exhausted from all of the fun we'd had. Leah was reduced to tears by the time we got her bathed and in her jammies. She and I snuggled up in our rocking chair to read our bedtime story and feed her dinner. It didn't take long until she was sleeping peacefully, snuggled up in my arms. It was then, that it was me who was reduced to tears. I couldn't help but to be overwhelmed with emotion as I looked at this sweet miraculous baby girl in my arms, this beautiful child, who has finally made me a mother.

The very thought still humbles me to my core.

Happy Mother's Day to my own beautiful mama

and all of the amazing women who enrich my life so deeply.

"You rock a sobbing child without wondering if today’s world is passing you by, because you know that you hold tomorrow tightly in your arms."
--Elder Neal A. Maxwell.

seven

Lucky Lucky Seven.

Lucky Lucky ME.

SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS...

I'm 7 months old!!

I have said so many times that I want to just freeze Leah exactly as she is. Things have seemed so perfect and yet today, this very day, she is even more fun and charming than she was as that perfect little 6 month old. It's strange that just when I think that I couldn't be any happier or more in love with her, it happens and I am.

Seeing how I haven't figured out how to freeze her or bottle her up just exactly how she is... I want to remember all of the little details that I love so much about this perfect moment in time with my sweet, little 7 month old-

She is a fantastic eater. She continues to be a really great nurser but she's diggin' the real food!! She LOVES butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and brown rice. Avocados are quickly growing on her. She tolerates peas and green beans but she still pretty much hates oatmeal. (and after last weekends' binge and purge session, we're pretty much done trying to get her to like it. she wins.) We're loving making all of our own baby food and yummy concoctions. We're especially excited to start mixing fruits in this next month or so.

She is rolling all over the place. I can no longer leave her on a blanket on the floor, leave the room and expect that she will be anywhere near where I left her when I get back. She's fast and definitely on the move. She has figured out how to get where she wants to go by rolling and scooching.

She is sitting up on her own like a pro and loves the new view and perspective it gives her when she's playing with her toys. I love how proud she looks when she's sitting up and we're not right next to her.


She has both of her bottom teeth and they are pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen. Teething, so far atleast, has been much less traumatic (for all of us) than I expected it to be.

see how cute they are?

She is sweet and mellow most of the time. She is a very happy and good natured baby, however she has a temper and can in fact get really mad, really fast. She has a large vein on the top of her head that bulges and looks like it's going to explode when she gets mad or cries hard.

Her hair is still not growing very fast. It has lightened up a lot since she was born and although her bald spot has now grown in, she still doesn't have much! She is going to have wild hair when it does start growing... she has 2 matching cowlicks on the top of her head and hair grows literally in every direction back there. (I've joked that she is definately not going to need a bump-it)

She is a really great sleeper. She started sleeping through the night at 2 months and has never looked back. She typically goes down between 7:30-8:30pm and she wakes up like clock work between 7:00-7:30am.

Once she eats dinner, we read one book and then I put her in her crib with her little snuggly elephant and she rolls over and goes right to sleep. It's heaven.

Naps are much improved. Finally morning naps are pretty consistent and seem to be getting longer, usually between 2 - 4 hours. It's so great! She wakes up happy and giggly and rested! We usually get another much shorter afternoon nap, an hour to hour and a half if we're lucky! Finally a routine that I can live with!

She's super chatty. I love to watch her, when she doesn't know that I'm watching her. She talks to her toys and stuffed animals/dolls. Its so funny. She is also slightly obsessed with sticking her tongue out and spitting. A little gross, but ridiculously cute.

Her eyes are still really dark and constantly filled with wonder and awe. They say so much about her.


She loves peek a boo and patty cake and loves any songs with actions. I keep trying to get her to join in and start learning them with me, but she's not really interested. She's perfectly content to let me be foolish all by myself.


Leah got her first (and perhaps rare or only) taste of having a pet this past month and she was in heaven. We were able to puppy sit our neighbors' teacup yorkie for 5 days. Leah was fascinated with Coco and couldn't believe there was something smaller than her that moved and made noise. Coco, however, wasn't a big fan of Leah and pretty much just totally ignored her, all the while providing hours of entertainment to the littlemiss. It *almost*, but not quite made us reconsider being "pet people".

She is comfortably wearing 9 mos clothes, but she still has several 6 mos items that she can squeeze into. She is wearing size 3 diapers and has now nearly grown out of her baby bath tub. It's quite a sloppy ordeal to bathe her these days, although she still loves it. She kicks and splashes and squeals nearly the entire time.

I am obsessed with the soft skin on her neck. It's my favorite place to kiss and nibble her. I love her chubby dippled hands and the rolls on her ankles. The way she wiggled her fat toes constantly always makes me smile. I love kissing and tickling her rolly thighs and making her laugh hysterically.

I love when we're around other people, she smiles and gets excited and then gets shy and buries her face in my chest.

I love how excited she gets when Daddy gets home from work. The bond that these two have is hard to describe in words, but it's humbling for me to watch. Chris is such a good daddy.

I love seeing her figure out new things. I literally just watch her most of the day.

I love watching her smile when Grandpa is swinging her.

I love when she starts to get tired, she lays her head on my shoulder, snuggles me and plays with my hair. There is nothing in my day that is better.

And mostly, I just absolutely love being her mama.

a pretty good monday morning...

~it started with a pretty great weekend in which the girl marries her prince and the bad guy finally dies~

and now THIS:

a real, true, almost hard to believe SPRING forecast!

(one that doesn't include any real raindrops and is laden with 70 degree temps!)

Be still my beating heart!!