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?