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...........