Tri- Cities

In no particular order, here are a few things I love about my hometown. Some things I especially love around the holidays.

First things first! I get my hurr did! This four inch grow out needs to go. Praise heaven for sisters who go to hair school!
My lil' sis is master of mixing some drinks. She's all about a red party cup to make family get togethers memorable:) best part is we can still drive home at night.

7-11. The beautiful Clearwater street has a 7-11 on it that has more slurpee choices than any other 7-11 in the country. A great reason to take a trip here. That and Clearwater has this weird feeling like you're suddenly back in 1996.
Burger Ranch's Candy Cane milkshakes. J's personal fav (thats why he's holding an extra large cup)! These milkshakes aren't for those with weak stomachs or those with a low tolerance for white trash. Enter this establishment at your own risk...shoes optional. Let's just say Brittany Spears would LOVE this place. I like their lime squeezes, french fries and fry sauce myself.
Oh, Christmas tree! I love being with my family at Christmas. Love my mom and dad.
Classic kids photo in front of the tree. Mom makes us take one every year. Look at those poses, Carri and I had obviously just watched 5 hours worth of Kardashian trash on tv. We should do a Christmas card like the Kardashian's next year! Remind me to do that!


my house= quiet lounging all day throughout the Christmas break. Mostly the animals lounge wherever the person who will pet them is. My mom usually has a line of animals by her, my dad usually doesn't:)Taking my dog Kit on walks is also something I like to do. It's always a walk full of surprises and fun like the one time when Kit pooped in someones yard right as that person was coming out of the house and I had no bag to pick it up! We started jogging immediately and I pretending like I didn't see the poop, problem solved.
Cable bridge is a beaut, a must see. Except when its icy then its a death trap for reals!
Areal view of that famous river...roll on Columbia roll on!
Farm land, there's quite a bit of that around these parts to.

Love this place and all its glory, Merry Christmas all!

1 year

Exactly 1 year ago this morning at 4:45am my life changed forever. I had taken what seemed like hundreds of pregnancy tests over the last 3 years only to be let down. But on this day 2010 I saw a faint line that indicated a positive test.

I can't help but remember the incredible feeling I had each time I went into my room to sneak a glance at that test throughout the next several days (it's not that gross I swear!)
The picture above was taken around 12 weeks, I was so proud of my tiny bump.

I thank and have thanked the Lord everyday for the last 365 days for my Summer blessing. A year ago I was afraid to say the word pregnant out loud for fear it would disappear and be only a possibility again. Today I watch my angel as she attempts to roll over and I am thankful for amazing things that can happen in just 356 days!

The Lords timing is the best timing and I am grateful for the little lessons of hope, faith and patience he has gone through with me in order to teach me more about his wonderful plan of happiness.

Random Christmas Deco

I'm always curious about how some of my friends decorate for Christmas. Here are a few things around my home. Picture frames full of old photos from Christmas past. My Grandpa on skies and the other photo is Josh's mom on Santa's lap. I love old photos, especially the one's that pertain to the Holidays.
Love my JOY sign. the mugs don't fit in the cupboard so they end up here. The movies in the background are tacky but I didn't think this choice of entertainment center through when I was 21 and more excited about getting married then picking this thing out. Ah well.
Gingerbread houses made at Thanksgiving with friends. Then I put all my Christmas S&P shakers around. I got two sets of snowmen. Kissing moose and kissing beagle dogs in sweaters. My husband hates it, I think it's adorable so I win.
More to come, if you hate it then just be glad you don't live here. Poor husband:)

What we're up to this week...

We're learning to take a pacifier. She tries to suck on everything lately. She especially likes her hands so I thought I would stick a pacifier in and see what happens. She use to hate them but now she finds them tolerable.
Action shot: a combination of rolling and sucking on a bink.
Tummy time is always fun and we're holding our head up very well nowadays. As you can see she is still somewhat bald, she doesn't let that stop her from rocking a headband. Someone asked me if she was a boy or girl the other day. She was wearing a dress mind you and luckily the baby in my arms held me back from my first reaction to slap the woman. Thankfully I kept it classy by pointing out that strange as it may seem the baby who is wearing a dress in my arms was in fact a girl.

Last but not least, baby S is sleeping in her own room!! Since Friday December 2nd Sum has been taking her naps and sleeping in her very own room. Still in her pack n play but in another room. My room now feels emptier and less fun. I must admit I miss her sleeping next to my bed but I cannot lie at the fact that I sleep much better and less stressed. Ya for the progress of babies!
Now that I have bragged and gone on about this little milestone that has lasted just 3 days I must add that if motherhood has taught me anything it's that nothing lasts forever and she could be just waiting for the right moment to hate sleeping alone again. Cheers for 3 nights tho:)

Also notice in this last picture how sprawled out the babe is. She has never liked swaddling and in fact tries to stretch her arms out as far as they will go. You try to confine this baby's arms or legs and she will scream bloody murder so don't even think about it:)

3 months

Baby S turned 3 months old on Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving was a fun time with our friends in the area, Sum got to spend time with her best friend who is one day older but I didn't get pictures of them together, mainly because I was eating and also because Sum was pinching her best friend on the cheek so we had to separate them:)
This girl is doing something new everyday. She is now rolling from side to side and will soon be rolling all the way over, I can't believe it! She is also putting things into her mouth, just about anything she can lift and pull over to her goes to her mouth and this is something she started doing just two weeks ago.
Sum also laughed for the first time this month, it was like angels singing I tell you!

She started going down for a morning nap in her own crib! It lasts just a little while but it counts and is so appreciated by me:) Other than her morning nap she hates the crib, weird I know. She especially hates her crib at night, but she is still a good sleeper whether it's with me or in her crib (by crib I mean pack n play in our bedroom, we haven't graduated to the crib yet.)
She still hates pacifiers and bottles.

We also went on our first trip this month, a three day, two night stay with Aunt Bobbie and Uncle Dave in Davis, CA. I love that town and Sum did really well but developed a habit of sleeping with mom.

We also realized this month that Sum will be a talker! She is constantly talking/cooing. sometimes she talks when she eats and causes herself to choke, we are working on being more polite and waiting until we're done eating to tell stories. When we sing to her she lengthens her voice so it sounds like she is trying to sing too, that or she is just trying to talk over our singing. I love that little voice, she talks so much that she even keeps talking as she is falling asleep. It is so cute to hear the little tired coos that come from her as her eyes get heavier and heavier!

And lastly, a few days ago our baby found her hands. She stops and looks at them constantly, it is quite funny to see her play and kick and then all of the sudden she gets very still and quite as she contemplates her little hands:)
We love this little chunk of a baby! Keeping learning and growing baby S.

Family photos

It was beyond fun to take family Christmas photos the other day! I remember last year being depressed and saying to J that we weren't going to send out Christmas cards because I was sick of taking pictures of just us two.
I almost cried as J held our sweet baby and I stood beside them as we posed for a shot. She did so good during the pictures too. I can't express my gratitude enough for this little drop of heaven. Thanksgiving means more now, everyday I wake up means more now because of her.
I love this picture because of the ginkgo trees in the background. My mom has one in her yard at home and I miss it. I also love this picture because J and Sum have a special bond and I swear you can see it in this picture. She is so relaxed and happy and J is gritting his teeth as he squeezes Summer's cute little foot. We grit our teeth and squeeze baby feet a lot around here.
She just looks so big in this picture. She holds her head up like a pro lately. Thanks for being my daughter Sum, I can't thank this baby enough for picking me as her mother!

As the great band The Format once sang, "I love love, I love being in love!" It is so true.

So proud

I never thought I could feel such pride and love for a my baby falling asleep but I do! She is doing things on her own and it is so impressive and sometimes hard to watch how fast she is growing!

Today she fell asleep on me, ON HER OWN! this is amazing because she usually wants to be fed as she falls asleep, and she won't let me put her down most of the time. Today she nursed for a little but seemed uninterested after a little while, so I took her off and just laid her on my lap while I watched a show on the computer. She basically went right to sleep! No rocking or swaying, no nursing. She just went to sleep! I was actually really sad at first because I like nursing her and holding her while she sleeps, most of the time.

I can't believe how much she is figuring out these days. She holds onto things and then puts them in her mouth, she laughs, she sleeps really well. I am so impressed with her patience with me, I mean maybe this is how she has been wanting to sleep the whole time but I just wasn't "listening" to her? It is so hard to try and figure out what babies want or need sometimes and I love how she still loves me even though I get it wrong most of the time.

I am beyond blown away by the fact that a 2 month old can have favorite toys and has a certain way she likes to be held! It is so fun to talk to her about heaven and what she remembers and then have her coo back like she knows exactly what I just said and is trying to answer it the best she can. I marvel at her strength (so does the Doctor:) I knew she would be amazing but I never imagined how amazing! I never speculated how much I would learn from her and love her at this tiny age. She is my everything and knowing that makes me want to be better.

I am so thankful for this opportunity to feel gratitude. Gratitude is something we all take for granted sometimes. Can you imagine what it would be like to not feel gratitude for certain things you have? Sometimes it's hard to feel grateful for what we have because it's always there so today I am here writing this while glancing at my sleeping angel feeling so thankful for what I have been given and I hope I never forget it! Who knew a sleeping baby would cause me to have so much enlightenment?

Half Moon Bay weekend!

We had such a fun weekend! We decided to go to Half Moon Bay and walk on the trail next to the Ritz Carlton (click on it, seriously it is such a pretty place!)
It was our first adventure with Summer and it went really well. Sum loved the walk and she stayed warm from the cold ocean air thanks to a lot of blankets and a good nap:)
Josh found a horse and it let him feed it which was fun to watch. We day dreamed about how rich the people were who sat outside their rooms sipping on yummy looking drinks in pretty glasses.

It was fun, the best part was realizing that we can do fun things as a family. Last year we went on ocean walks just the two of us, now we have a sweet baby to share it with. Great weekend:)

Anxiety...

I have to come clean. All my life I have had anxiety attacks. It' true, any of my former or present roommates and friends can tell you that. I just get really nervous and crazy about certain things, after that I end up freaking out about said "things". These things are usually unimportant and I end up feeling stupid later on.

For example: Baby S only takes good naps on me. Have I never told you that? Anyway, she is napping on me at the moment and girlfriend (baby S) didn't sleep so well last night, I didn't either if you were wondering, and so I wouldn't wake her up from this blessed nap right now for a million bucks understand? The anxiety comes in now because we have laundry to do and our laundry units are shared with the rest of the building located in a little room on my floor. Sum and I put laundry in the washer and dryer before her nap, but it has taken a lot longer to get sweet baby girl to fall asleep.

Now I am sitting here on my couch chomping at the bit (yes thats a phrase, Josh never believes me) because I can hear someone in the laundry room and they are probably going to have to remove my clothes from the dryer!!! Oh, the thought nearly kills me! I spend most of my time trying to figure out the perfect time to do laundry so that I don't have to go through this torture! One time someone took my clothes out for me and I think I cried about it, i may need to be medicated!

Then a thought comes to me, "whats the big deal?" Well, I could go on and on about why it's a big deal but then I looked down at this face:
(those are J's legs don't worry:)

And I simply need to stop caring about things that make me crazy, and start caring about the fact that I am so lucky to do nothing but stare at this sweet chubby girl! She won't want to sleep on me forever, so screw the laundry and whomever is touching it. I have a thing about clean hands too. Oh, brother.

xoxo

11/1/11

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband and to Sum's amazing Dad!!I have celebrated 7 birthdays with this guy. Our first real date was on his birthday and we held hands, I'll never forget it! It's exciting to think that 7 years ago we held hands for the first time and today I am bringing our daughter into his work to visit him for the first time.
Thanks for being born and for being super awesome! Also it's kinda cool that this year all the numbers for your birthday are 1's

More Summer!

Thanks Grandma Corier for this amazing cross stitch! I loovvee it, so does Sum (clearly). I can't wait to hang it with the other white frames in her room! We have really talented Grandma's! I need to dedicate a post to what Grandma P has done for us too, remind me to do that!
Poor girl got shots like I mentioned last post. Her battle wounds hurt, she didn't feel well last night but she still was cute as a button. I really don't like giving her that many shots at once. I don't know what I was thinking except that I have been paranoid of her getting sick so I thought I would just try all of them at once and I now see that I might want to space them out because she was really drowsy, feverish and upset last night, it scared me a little. Look at those legs...yes I try to chew on them daily.
She likes to pose. Ps that blue toy laying next to her, ya, she picked that up and put it in her mouth today! I thought I had a genius baby on my hands but I think she was just resting her hand on it and the saliva from her hand stuck on the toy and when she went back for a taste of hand she got some toy instead on accident. But that's probably what she wants me to think...
Heading to the Dr. she obviously has no idea what was about to happen to her poor chunky legs!

In other news I swept and mopped the floors just now! First time in I'm to embarrassed to say how long! I feel like I'm on top of the world, those ugly tiles never looked almost creamier! I need to do laundry but that would require me leaping over the sleeping baby to get the clothes so I will sit here and drink my pepsi and think about how awesome I am for all the floor cleaning.

2 months!

Can you believe it? It's crazy that my baby is 2 months old already! She is the light of our lives, our worlds literally revolve around her and we love it!
She got 2 shots today and is now sleeping peacefully. Hopefully she won't have a very bad reaction to them? I didn't cry when she got her shots because I know it's good for her so I don't let myself. She on the other hand screamed for a while but she was smiley again after a little while. She is strong and I know this because the Dr. told me so.

The doctor came into the room laughing because Summer is sooooo healthy aka BIG. She said that Summer is a strong, healthy, robust baby. I didn't know Sum was so big because she doesn't have a lot of rolls, turns out she is HUGE and doesn't have very many rolls yet because she is just head and muscle.

Weight: 12 lbs 10oz.=90th percentile
length: 24 1/4 in.= 95th percentile
head: 41.7cm = 97th percentile (duh, I had a C-section right!)

She loves to suck and chew on her hand. Detests pacifiers!
She enjoys her baths, sometimes so much that she relaxes to much and goes to the bathroom which cuts the bath short, which she hates:)
She loves to coo at J and I. And when I sing she lengthens out the coo so it sounds like singing almost.
Obsession isn't a good enough word to describe her affinity for her play mat! I am grateful for this mat, she smiles and kicks and punches when she gets down on that thing. The bird at the top is seriously her best friend.
She lets me put her down for naps sometimes after falling asleep on me of course and bedtime is awesome! She fusses but once she's down, she sleeps! Last night she only got up once to feed.

yep, we love her and are so grateful for the beautiful healthy girl she is. I sometimes wonder what she's thinking and I hope she is just thinking about how happy and loved she is. My day is dedicated to making her smile, when I see it I feel like I waited my whole life to see that smile and it was worth the wait!!


I am also a little sad today. A family friend lost her fight with breast cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, especially her husband and children. I am so grateful for the knowledge we can all have of life after death and being able to be reunited with loved ones. When I look at my baby's face it makes me want to live my life like this friend did, in such a way so that we can be together forever.
Here's her blog if you're interested

Like I said...

A glimpse at the balding. I sure do love that head! 3rd day in a row that I have been able to set her down for a nap and it lasts for over an hour!
Excuse me now I have a balding head to kiss:)

the baby is sleeping...

this photo was taken at about 1 week old.

My sweet baby is sleeping now. She is finally starting to nap without being held, and it is bliss! Don't get me wrong, I spend hours so grateful that I can just do nothing but look at her sweet sleeping face but things need to get done around the house once in a while to.

She is so much fun. We just sit and laugh and smile at each other most days, I never want to forget this stage for her. She is starting to put up a bigger fight when we put her to bed but she is also a little easier now to put down for naps so it evens out. She is almost 2 months old and I can't believe it! Josh's mom came to visit about a week ago and it was so fun, the baby loved it. It makes me so excited to go home for some holiday fun.

Just thought I would check in and say hi. We are having fun!!

Also, just so I don't forget: Summer hates pacifiers but she LOVES her fist! She is also in the process of balding:)

First time at Church

She slept most of the time.
With her proud papa

She's not a fan of hanging out in her Church clothes after Church is over. I mean let's get our comfy clothes on already:)