Our Little Christmas Miracle!

We are here in Utah visiting friends and family and having a Merry Christmas! We decided to be adventurous and drive there so we could take a bunch of stuff and have a car to drive around in. Jos was such a trooper during the 20+ hour drive (we split it up between a couple days and stayed in a hotel). It has been so great to see everyone! We trade off between Utah and California for Christmas so we are her every 2 years for the holiday. We have seen some great friends, went night skiing and tried out our new ski gear, and watched our little girl have her first Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with the whole family and had Kim and Liam Breakwell join us too. It was so great to see them and their little Keegan. So now for the miracle part: Jos rolled over for the first time in front of everyone on Christmas day! It was so awesome! She doesn't really like tummy time, so as soon as I sat her down, she just rolled to the side and tuned over. We all applauded and immediately made her try it again to make sure it wasn't just a fluke. She did it 3 times in a row before fussing at me for making her do it. We got the 3rd one on film. The first 2 were much smoother. The 3rd one she struggles a little bit. Anyway, one major milestone accomplished and she's only 2 months old! I need to take more video cause she is cooing and smiling all the time now and loves being talked to. I try to read to her, but instead of looking at the book, she wants to look at me reading the book. She'll crane her neck backwards to see my face. I love her! Also, she was babysat for 8 hours while we went skiing and I heard she was and angel. I was proud of myself for not fretting more and calling a thousand times to make sure she was still alive. Thanks Aunt Kristie! I need to take more pics before we leave. Here are a few highlights so far:

Jos turning over for the 3rd time. She struggled a little on this one.



Night skiing with Jesse.

Me after a nice spill.


We got to see the Miller's and their adorable twin boys!


Jos meeting the family.



Our sweet bunny.

We're off!

We are leaving for Utah today to spend Christmas with the Packards until after the new year. I am so ready for a vacation. For the first time, when we go to Utah we will going somewhere warmer. The weather report says it's -2 degrees outside with a high of 5. Brrrr..........very cold, especially in this drafty 100 year old house! To all of you in Utah, we will see you soon! To all of you in Ca., we will be there in January. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!!!

2 Months Old!!

Josie turned 2 months old yesterday! I can't believe it's been that long! She celebrated by getting her immunizations and barfing all over some clean laundry. I celebrated by crying about her immunization experience and then getting my hair done to make me feel better. She is still a super easy baby and I feel very lucky. She sleeps at least 4 or 5 hours in a row now but has done up to 6 1/2.  Those nights were heavenly. She loves her sleep and usually will sleep anywhere especially if there is alot going on around her. She takes a long 3 hour nap in the afternoon as well. I still am a little sleep deprived though cause I usually have too much to do to sleep at the same time as her. She is a great burper, and loves to smile at mommy and daddy. Each night when I go in to get her out of her crib to feed her, she gives me a bright, beaming smile as soon as she sees me. I love it! At her check-up she weighed in at 11 pounds (in the 25th percentile) and 23 inches (75th percentile). She is still long and skinny! She is looking quite chubby, though and she scowls at me for always kissing her plump little cheeks. 

After our ward's Christmas party. Ignore the spit-up on her chin.

Thanks Chantel for the hair!

We do this often. (see, my roots were getting bad.)

Remember how I said that Jos loves sucking on things? She gets desperate when her binkie falls out so she sucks on her fist. It's way cute.

Josie's first photoshoot!!

We wanted to get some pictures taken before she was too big. We got these done last week (she was 6 weeks). I wish we had done it even earlier, but oh well! I am happy with them in general, but I wish we had more done. I also kinda she was sleeping in a few of them. I am going to try to get some more done at some point. She did so well during the shoot! I thought she would sleep through it, but she was wide awake the whole time! Here are some of the highlights:

Oh, and also: Josie started smiling at us this past week!!! She wakes up with a smile every morning when I go to pick her up. They are so precious and we live to see each one. Pictures to come if we can catch one on camera! I can't believe she is almost 2 months old!

This is Jos's "Blue Steel" face. (Zoolander reference)

Daddy's favorite, of course!

She started to get tired of us positioning her and flashing in her face. 

Finally finishing this post- 5 amazing years!

I had been meaning to do an extensive post about our 5 year anniversary, but went into labor before I could finish it. (Original post is here.) We watched our wedding video for the first time in a while and it brought back vivid memories of that day and of our early marriage. We were so young! I was only 18 (almost 19) and couldn't yet understand how we could possibly be happier or more in love. It has been amazing to see our relationship grow and see how much deeper it is now. Especially having a baby, it has become a different kind of love. I can't believe it's already been 5 years! I am looking forward to the next eternity together! Some of you were there that day and were able to share with us.  If you weren't, I put together some highlights. We had a reception at my parents house that night and an open house in Utah at the Granite Tabernacle after our honeymoon. We used a videographer from Utah that only filmed the open house, so we sent him footage of some of the California events to put into the video. Through a series of unfortunate events, the only video we have of the actual day does not include the reception. We did have a beautiful reception at my parents house with a couple hundred people attending. We just don't have it on film. Bummer.
Sorry about the poor film quality. It's Blogspot's fault.

Here is a clip of picture taking after the ceremony and before the reception.

Here is a couple clips of the open house. It was mostly family and a few friends.

Family pictures (Kevin's side) and open house

And some pictures for your viewing pleasure...........

Not your normal Thanksgiving....

The last 4 years or so, we have been on our own for Thanksgiving. We have lived away from family the last few years and haven't been able to fly home for the holiday. So, we have made our own traditions. The last 3 years, we did Thanksgiving with our friends Carrie and John and traded off at houses. We would also go to the beach since it's usually still kinda warm in Florida. This year we spent it in Chicago with my sister Sheri. She is a nanny to a family that just bought a condo in the Hancock building in downtown Chicago. They live in Mississippi, but spent the week in Chicago and brought her with them. It was so much fun!!

This is a pic from Thanksgiving past. I think this was 3 years ago, our first Thanksgiving in Florida. We had dinner at a beach condo with John and Carrie. 

Josie was so excited to meet Auntie Sheri!

This is where we had Thanksgiving dinner. I decided I didn't want to cook a big dinner for 3 people, so we went out! Someone recommended this great restaurant to us and we loved it. It's in the old Studabaker mansion in South Bend. They do a big Thanksgiving buffet feast every year. It feels like you were invited to someone's private residence for a fancy party with great food. It was so beautiful inside and out and the food was so yummy!  

She was such a good girl! She slept quietly the whole time.

Friday, we decided to spend the busiest shopping day of the year in one of the largest and busiest cities. It was crazy! I have never seen so many people out shopping! The streets were so packed, you could hardly move. We walked down "The Magnificent Mile" and looked at all the shops. Josie was again very good and either slept or looked around quietly the whole day. 

It was in the 30's so we wanted her to be plenty warm. I think she ended up getting hot. She didn't really like it because she couldn't move her arms. It was kinda like in "A Christmas Story" when Randy is wearing the big snow suit and crying because he "can't put is arms down." So cute, though!

She figured out how to get her hands free from the sleeves and kept sticking them out up by her face. It was so funny to see these big, purple sleeves and hands coming out of her neck. 

Overall, it was a great holiday! We are getting so excited for Christmas and continued the tradition of getting out the Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. Josie is doing great! She finally figured out that daytime is for playing and nighttime is for sleeping. She is now sleeping about 3-5 hours at a time and going right back down after I feed and change her. She is such a mellow, happy baby! She doesn't really like to cry and does it sparingly. She loves to look around and be talked to. We have found that even if she is soiled, tired, and hungry, (not that we ever let her get that way) as long as someone is holding her and she has a binkie, she's ok. She makes funny noises trying to comfort herself. She is also very mesmerized by tv. When we were still in the hospital, we noticed that she always wanted to look at the tv. Even now, she will look you right in the eyes and stare at whoever is talking to her, unless tv is around. Then she will totally ignore you and watch tv. If we turn her away, she will crane her neck to try to find it. I really don't want her to become a couch potato, but it has kept her from being fussy a couple times. It's so funny to watch her eyes get big when she stares at it.

One month!

I woke up this morning to this outside:

I am bracing myself for a long, cold winter. At least it is getting me in the Christmas spirit! I am excited for a white Christmas. I'm not excited about hauling a baby around in the snow. I am feeling justified now in spending way too much on those cute snow boots!

Josie is one month (and a couple days) old! She had her one month appointment and everything looks good. She is now 8 pounds 11 ounces and almost 22 inches. We are so glad that she is healthy! Now if we can just make it through the winter without major illness, we'll be in really great shape!

On another note, so glad that everyone is safe from the fires. We ended up having several people we know that lost homes, but no one was hurt. I am thankful that my parents house was not in the way of the fire, although it jumped around alot and burned random houses. From what I heard, it was hard to predict which homes were in danger. I know everything will be built back up quickly and YL will be back to it's former glory. After all, it is the "land of gracious living!"

Just for fun....

So, I found this in my car the other day. It's a recording from my first orchestra rehearsal from "Don Giovanni." It's kind of a rotten recording and everything sounds a little flat, but it's all I got from the opera. It's just a rehearsal, but I am hoping for a recording of the actual performance someday.
Thought you might like to take a listen. I think I might upload some of my other recordings sometime since no one has heard them really. Enjoy!

Fire!

Our hearts and prayers are with everyone in my hometown of Yorba Linda which is on fire right now. In case you haven't seen the news, at least 169 homes in YL, Brea, Chino, and surrounding areas have burned down. Thankfully, my parents home is safe and not likely to be in the path of the fire. Many people we know have already been affected by this and many of our friends have had to evacuate. We are praying that their homes will survive. Our prayers are especially with our good friend Katie's family. Her parents home did not survive. Many buildings and areas that I grew up with have gone up in flames. It is definitely sobering to see all of this. We just hope that everyone is safe and that they get the help they need. 

The Blessing

Though it was rainy and cold, last Sunday was such a beautiful day. We decided to bless Josie while the family was here. I pretty much bawled through the whole blessing as it was the strongest and most amazingly eloquent blessing I have ever heard. So many people came up afterward to let me know that they felt the same way. I am so thankful for a husband who has the priesthood and can give our daughter a name and a blessing. Thankfully, she slept through the whole thing and was calm through the whole meeting. Right after Sacrament meeting, we heard that ominous squishy sound. Jos had a blowout clear through her diaper, tights, slip, and white dress. It was pretty gross. We promptly took  her home and took pics there. I think it's a rule that as soon as you get a baby nice and clean and into nice, clean clothing they must either pee, poop, or barf on it. At least with Jos it's a rule. Here are some pics from the day. Check out more pics from the week in the post below this one.

My aunt made this dress many years ago. It is a family tradition to bless babies in this dress. I was blessed in it, so now Jos has been blessed in it too. My mom made the beautiful, crochet blanket.  

A smile, maybe?

Grandma's and Grandpa's

We had both sides in last week for Josie's blessing. It was so much fun! She got WAY to much attention for one human being and probably enjoyed every minute of it. It was so fun to see everyone with her, especially my dad. He was in baby girl heaven! My mom took a bunch of cute pics so I stole some and posted below. We are all still doing really well and loving life! Josie is growing like a weed so I am trying to cherish every second with her. I am so afraid of forgetting her at this stage. They grow so fast! She seems to get cuter and smarter every day. She will stare very intently at things now and loves to be cuddled. She has the most heart-wrenching cry that she fortunately uses sparingly. She is so lucky to have such sweet grandparents who love to spoil her. Thanks grandma's and grandpa's! 

Jos loves to suck. She is pretty much obsessed with her binkies and is constantly searching for them. I am actually surprised she doesn't have one in her mouth in all these pics. It kinda drives me nuts sometimes, especially when it falls out and she freaks out. I let her use them though, cause they keep her very happy and content when she does keep them in her mouth. Here is proof of her love of sucking. Don't get too close, or she'll do it to you too!

Thanks grandma Money for the swing! I love to sleep in it!