To Washington!

Well, this year Matt and I are going to Washington to see his parents for Christmas. We are very excited to go. We haven't been out to their house in two years and it will be Nicole's first airplane flight. It is all very exciting.

I am all stressed because I have to get the house clean before we leave ( I hate coming home to a mess). And, I am on the activities committee at church and we are helping with the ward christmas party tomorrow. I think the party is way too late in the month, but there is nothing that I can do about that. I am cooking to pork roasts and a lot of rice tomorrow for the party.

I still have some christmas shopping left to do before we leave and I have deliver gifts before we leave. Plus, I've got to find some time to pack. So much to do!

I will probably post again after the holiday and after Sarah's wedding.

Snow Day!

The other day when it snowed a lot, I decided to go and shovel the drive way. So, I put Nicole in her snow suit and she came to shovel with me.
She thought it was a great game to put on the snow suit. She kept smiling and giving me funny looks until I held up the camera of course.
Nicole hung out in the stroller and watched me shovel. She did not have the funnest time, but she survived her first snow excursion.

8 months!

Nicole is now eight months old! And she only let me take a couple of pictures before she ripped that bow right out of her hair.

As Nicole gets older, she is more and more fun to play with. I love it! I can't get enough of this little girl. I love her so much and I think she is just hilarious. It is so much fun to watch her do things for the first time because she is starting to become proud of her accomplishments.

Nicole's vocabulary includes: Mamma, Dadda, Nya Nya, and Baba. I realize that some of these are not words, but I am still proud. Once she learns to make a new sound, she goes with it and won't stop saying it. She is so stinking cute!

Nicole is still a little fatty lumpkins; she is wearing 12 month clothing now and has outgrown most of her 6-9. Not because she is exceptionally tall, but because she is a fatty. I like a nice fat, healthy baby.

We are attempting to get Nicole on the bottle, but she is resisting as much as she can. She doesn't like her solid baby foods very much (unless they are laced with pears), but she always wants whatever Matt and I are eating. But, when she tastes it, she no longer wants it. I might just end up nursing this baby the full year. I am excited for the time when my body is my own again.

Nicole is not yet crawling, but she does the "scoot" and sometimes the army crawl. Mostly, she likes to scoot around while sitting on her bum. I have been trying to find ways to prevent her from getting into things that she should not, but alas that she is smart and usually figures a way around my obstacles.

No teeth yet, surprisingly enough. We kept expecting teeth, but she hasn't acted like she is teething in over a month. Perhaps the teeth are going to hide for a while yet, we shall see.
I have discovered that Nicole is afraid of the dark. She has a night light in her room, so it took me a while to figure this out. She would always cry when we put her in the car at night time and I originally chocked it up to tiredness. But, when she is given a light in the back of the car, she stops crying. Hopefully, this is a temporary condition and she realizes that the back of the car is still safe in the dark.
Nicole's favorite past time is taking toys out of a box and watching Mommy put them back in. She can do this for twenty minutes straight (a long time for her attention to be kept). She is also watching the "Your Baby Can Read" videos and we are confident that she will be a scholar in no time at all. She actually really enjoys the video and we watch it twice a day. I will keep you posted on whether or not she is able to read.

Much, Much to Tell

So, much has occured since my last frivolous post. I told Matt a couple weeks ago that I would like a toy chest for Nicoley as I am tired of her toys being scattered around the house. So, last Saturday, Matt announced that he could probably build a toy chest with scrap wood that we had. This is the result.

This is pre hinges, but the top got hinges after the paint dried and it looks great! It is purple and matches Nicole's room and I now have a place to store her toys! I have an amazingly handy husband.


Thursday of last week the In n Out in Orem opened. Matt is a huge fan of this burger place, so we had to go on opening day to get burgers. The line was out the door and about a 30 minute wait. Getting a seat seemed more difficult than waiting in line, but we survived and got our food and a seat. It was delicious. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries and I only got this one picture of Matt, but I think you can see the excitement.

Nicole rolling around

Saturday, I went to see New Moon with my sisters. It was definitely better than the first Twilight movie. I was on team Jacob before and my place is more solidified. Yes, I know how it ends, but I've got alternate endings in my head that do not involve a weirdly named baby.

Nicole in her new Sunday dress

Then, on Saturday afternoon, Sarah had her bridal shower. My camera was still batterless, so you will have to visit Marie's blog for pictures. Sarah had a pretty good turn out and the food was really good. Mom out did herself with this one, it was great. I think that Sarah had a good time.

Sunday Matt was sick so we stayed home and lounged. I'm tired of sicknesses going around. It should just stop.

This week is Thanksgiving, so I am excited to have extra time with Matt and my family.

Things that Bug Me

Fevers but no teeth

People who tail while driving

Commercials (solution, DVR)

Thanka, Storya, and Longamonies (originally spelled "testa")

Long lines

People who price match (people, not companies)

Raking leaves (I haven't done it yet, but the leaves keep staring at me)

Cold weather (now I can't walk outside with Nicole... not that I did it much before, but it was nice to have the option)

Nicoley waking up at 3am.

People who say "aks" instead of "ask", "flustrated" instead of "frustrated"

People who get Wilford Woodruff and Woodrow Wilson confused

In and Out not yet being open in Orem

The color Orange; it isn't doing anyone any favors

People who freak out over small things (unless they are pregnant, then they have an excuse)

Kids who suck on everything (toys, non toy objects, hair, hands, curtains, blankets, ect...)

People who bring their sick kids to public places (church, school, grocery store, ect.)

People who drive through the parking lots and disregard the lanes

I'm sure that a lot of other things bother me, but this is all I could think of right now. I would have written a "thankful" list, but those are way more boring. When my friends write those lists on their blog, I just skim right over. But, when I read about the things that bug my friends, then I can relate. So, if you want to know what I am thankful for, just think of the opposite of what is on this list.

7 Months!

Nicole is now 7 months old! I can't believe how big she is getting. It is weird to think of how old she is. Last year this time I was just complaining about being pregnant. Time flies by very quickly.
I don't have any new stats for Nicole because she doesn't go to the doctor again until she is 9 months. But, she is about 19 pounds and getting close to passing up her 1.5 year old cousin Keira.

Nicole's most favorite thing in the world (other than me) is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She can be super sad and crying and then hear Mickey's voice and she perks right up and smiles and laughs. She is one weird little baby. Here is a pic of her enthralled by her show.

For Halloween this year, Nicole was a little pumpkin. We stayed home this year and passed out candy because Nicole is a little too young to do trick or treating and we are way to old to do it. But, I dressed her up in her costume anyway just to take some pictures.

She did go trunk or treating with her cousins the day before Halloween. I wasn't there, but it was reported that she was just fascinated by all the kids in their costumes. I think that Nicole just looks adorable as a little pumpkin.

Nicole's new accomplishments include rolling all around and saying "Momma." I set Nicole on the ground the other day with cartoons on so that I could take a shower. I never leave her on the bed alone anymore because she is just too rolly. I came out of the shower to find her gone. I couldn't see her anywhere; it scared me very much. I found her playing under our bed. I guess she had seen something she wanted under there and rolled under to play with it. Little stinker!

Nicole loves dogs. She gets along really well with my parents labrador; she loves to grab her nose. We went to a friend's house the other day and they had a spaniel dog. Nicole was very interested in the dog and squealed with delight every time he came near. But, she cried when he started barking and didn't like the dog as much after that.

She is such a delight and I love seeing her get so big and look more like a little girl and less like a baby.

Sickified

So, a week ago Friday, Matt started feeling sick. He's still feeling sick. He finally went to the doctor and took a day off work and he has a virus that turned into a sinus infection. Yay no swine flu!

I went to the doctor too because I have been sick for four days. I have a virus that is the beginning stages of a sinus infection. Well, it could be worse.

It is really difficult to be sick and take care of a baby I have discovered. It is like babies always need something and I love her, so I give it to her (like food and milk and stuff). Yesterday Nicole was super fuss face and I thought for sure that she had caught what I have, but today she is hunky dory so it must be those darn teeth again.

I'm starting to think that teeth are a myth. She had four days of fever over 100 and no teeth. They are never coming! They are just going to torture her and therefore me forever.

Well, I'm hoping the sicknesses pass before the weekend so that we can enjoy Halloween because I'm not hanging around people and passing on this sickness. It stops with me. Gottya there virus!

Pumpkins and Date!

Last Friday, Matt and I watched the kids for Anne and Carlos. We decided to take all the kids to a pumpkin patch. Unfortunately, when we got there, the patch was closing, so we had to just grab some pumpkins and go. But, I still snapped some pictures of the kids and Coley in her Halloween outfit.

My little girl is so beautiful! And mostly looks like a girl in her little pumpkin getup.

Coley and Lucy
Carlitos posing with a pumpkin.
The next day, Matt and I hosted a group date with my sisters and Johnny and Krista. Everyone came over to our house to make pizza and carve pumpkins. This is not the most attractive picture of us, but it was the only one I got.
This was our pumpkin. I went for simple. Kristi helped carve when she came over to sit for Nicole.
Even Johnny was all culinary and made pizza even though he insisted that he couldn't because he didn't know how. I think he just says he doesn't know how to do things so that he doesn't have to do them. Silly Johnny.
The pizza turned out really yummy and there was enough for everyone to try their hand at making the pizza. Matt was our pizza coordinator and made sure that all the pizzas came out of the oven safely.
After we carved pumpkins and ate, we all went on a Halloween Cruise on the Provo river. I never knew that such a thing existed, but apparently it has been going on for years. We all got in a boat and went down the river and were attacked by pirates and told a spooky tale. It was a lot of fun. Date night was definitely a success!

Six Month Check Up!

Weight: 18.5 lbs 90%
Height: 27 in 90%
Head Size: 95%

My beautiful little big head! I love my Michelin Baby!

This outfit says, "Guess Whoooo's first Halloween?" And it was given to her by Grandma Kimball. But, I put a bow in her hair when we went to the doctors because too many people have been mistaking her for a boy. (even when I dress her in pink and purple, sigh)


Nicole has had a high fever lately, so we stripped her down one night and put a wet washcloth on her head. She looked hilarious.

Nicole has started to try to grab the camera when I am taking pictures. She thinks it is the best game ever.

Happy Birthday Matt

Last Thursday was Matt's Birthday (31). Matt doesn't like to make a big halabaloo for his birthday; it is just not his way. So, I planned just fun day with him, me and the baby.

I went up to his work for lunch (it is a 45 minute drive to salt lake). We went to Hires Big H for lunch and had a pretty good time watching Nicole attempt to eat fries.

When Matt got home from work, I had made him a raspberry pound cake that I saw on the food network. I'm not going to give out the recipe though because it wasn't as good as it looked. It tasted a lot more like bread than cake except that it has frosting on it.


Then, I made Matt's favorite dinner, Chilean steak sandwiches. I know there is a spanish name for them, but I don't know what it is. They are super yummy!

Steak Sandwiches:
1 package flank steak
1 T garlic powder
1 t seasoning salt
1 T olive oil
1 T butter

1 tomato

1 avacado
1/2 t lemon juice
1/4 t seasoning salt
1 t olive oil

soft buns

Cut the flank steak into strips and season with garlic powder and seasoning salt. I usually add an ample amount of garlic powder, but if you like it less garlicy, do less. Heat a sauce pan with oil and butter on medium high heat. Saute flank steak in pan until cooked to the desired doneness. I like it medium.

Make guacamole with avacado, lemon juice, seasoning salt and olive oil. Just mash it all together to desired texture.

Cut tomatos into slices.

Assemble meat, guacamole, and tomatos onto cut buns. Tadah! Yummy sandwich.
I gave Matt a staple/nail gun for his present. I think he really liked it because it is what he asked for. Now all he needs is a new project to try it out on.

Teething?

So, Nicole was super fussy yesterday. She cried when I was right next to her or holding her. She took four naps and was still tired. And, she would get sick of every toy we tried after about two minutes. Ugh! Around 8pm, I felt the back of her neck and realized that she felt really hot. We took her temperature and sure enough, 101.7.

I got some baby tylenol into her and got her into a luke warm bath to bring the fever down. The fever came down and we got her to sleep eventually but she still has a fever of 99.4 today. Is this teething? I sure hope so because a teething baby is better than a sick baby.

Orange Rolls and Conference

This weekend we made Orange Rolls for conference. I wish I had taken a picture, but I didn't have the sense of mind to do it and then they were gone before I knew it!

Sunday morning the baby woke up around 6am like she usually does. I put her back down to sleep and then went down to the kitchen to start the dough for orange rolls. It takes a long time if you are making the dough from scratch because the dough has to rise... twice! So, I made the dough and let it rise and went back to bed. But, of course Nicole was up an hour later. She is most definitely an early to riser.

The orange rolls were fairly easy to make, if time consuming, but they were totally worth it! We had Sarah and her newly reunited boyfriend Mark over. And, we had DJ and Kristy. I like to be with family on conference. It is just a comfortable and happy time.

Conference this year was as good as it ever is. It is such a comfort to have the guidance from our church leaders and be able to hear the counsels of the Lord from my own living room. It is most definitely my favorite church meeting ever. I would have conference all the time if I could. But, then I guess it wouldn't feel as special as it does.

Crying it Out?

So, Nicole is now in her very own room! Matt and I are very excited for this because we were not getting good sleep when we woke up everytime she moved around in her bed. Nicole also cries and laughs in her sleep, which woke me up too. Nicole does not seem to notice the change, which is a good thing I figure.

Now that she is a big girl in her own room and everything I really really want an easier bedtime. She fights sleep like nothing else! I can tell when she gets sleepy because she starts to get all whiny. But, she does not actually want to go to sleep. She wants to nurse and play and fuss until she is so exhausted that she crashes. It is a fight every night and I hate it! So, I decided to try the Ferber method of crying it out.

I have to say right now that it is extremely difficult to sit and listen to your child cry and not go and pick her up! Matt and I had tried to let her cry it out a few times and we always caved because she does this uncontrollable crying that just breaks my heart! Then I would give in and nurse her or rock her to sleep. But, I can't do that forever and I'm becoming very exasperated with bedtime.

I think that is also good to mention that Nicole suddenly does not want her pacifier anymore. She used to take a pacifier and love it and it would calm her. Now she turns her head, seals her lips, and gets really mad at us if we even offer the pacifier. This makes things very difficult because I relied upon the pacifier to help put her to sleep and to put her back to sleep when she wakes up in the middle of the night. I would just pop the pacifier back in her mouth when she woke up and she would go back to sleep. I can no longer do this. I am hoping that this is a phase for her.

In conclusion, Matt and I finally successfully accomplished the Ferber method last night. I read up on it beforehand so I knew exactly what to do. We put her in bed, she cried and Matt went in after five minutes to check on her. The hardest part is not picking her up because she so obviously wants to be picked up. Then, Matt left and intended to go back in after ten minutes, but she had cried herself to sleep before then. It worked! This is not to say it will work again or that it will be so short of an amount of time next time. But, I was relieved that it worked for one night at least.

I didn't like to send Matt in without me, but because I am her food source I only exasperate the situation at bed time. She loves to nurse until she falls asleep and would just stay there forever if she had her way.

I will try this method again and hopefully bedtime will get easier soon.

Baby Showered!

Last Saturday, Lisa and I threw a baby shower for our college friend Dixie Annah. Known to most as Dixie Dixon, though she is married now and has a new last name. Annah was my first roommate in college in Hawaii. I never thought then that she would ever end up living here in Utah. She and a lot of my Hawaii friends criticized me for being too "Utah" back in the day. But, I am glad that she is so close by now and expecting her first baby, a boy.

Marie and I spent Friday baking for the shower. We made chocolate cupcakes with a cream cheese and chocolate chip dollup in them. And, we made my favorite ginger cookies. I got the recipe for the cupcakes from Momma Ashton's blog and the cookies from Momma Kimball. I am a recipe thief!

Matt made this delicious apple pie Saturday morning with the apples from my parent's tree.

I think the hardest part of baking all these goods was not sampling too many. Marie and I had a few cookies and split a cupcake, but didn't eat any more than that. And I didn't have any pie until the party. It is difficult to bake and not eat! But, I ended up having more than enough and gave some cupcakes away at the end of the party.
Lisa, my coconspirator in the party, planned all the party games and they were great! The turnout for the party was a little bit of a let down, but we had enough people to play games.
Annah got some presents and she seemed to enjoy herself even though she is 9 months pregnant. She is handling her pregnancy a lot better than I handled mine. I recall a lot of complaining on my part near the end... or throughout the whole thing. I would have to go back and read blog entries to verify though. It is all very vague to me now.
My Nicoley was very good at the party and during the day when I was baking and cleaning up a storm. She just sat in her high chair and observed it all. She loves to sit in her high chair with her feet up on the little tray and just watch Mommy cook. She is such a silly girl!
Her new favorite game is to throw things on the ground. I put toys up on her highchair and she throws them on the ground. Repeat until crazy.
She has also started to make a little question noise. She makes a noise that goes higher at the end like she is asking a question. It is so cute! She also likes to growl at Daddy, this is also just too cute! I think everything she does is cute though, so my opinion is very biased. She can now sit up on her own on the floor. She will sometimes topple over as she goes for a toy, but for the most part she does really well.

She has also started shaking her head in a 'no.' So, we ask her questions like, "can you say Ma Ma?" and she shakes her head 'no.' It is a riot! But, I have as of yet to capture it on camera. She still goes still when the camcorder is on.

Hair Cut

Okay, pretend that this picture is right side up. My computer was fighting with me and I lost. So, Marie had work off last Friday and she came over to my house to help me bake lots of stuff and cut my hair.

Nicoley loves to grab and pull hair, and, with mine being so long, she would get her little fingers tangled in my hair and only pull harder trying to get them free. It was beyond time for a haircut.

My lovely sister Marie cut off 11 inches for me and it feels great! My head is so light I feel free from my heavy hair. Now it is a lot more difficult for Nicole to grab and it looks super cute. Thanks Marie!

I'm going to find out how to donate the 11 inches that I cut off, but in the mean time I thought that Nicole might like a little more hair. Strangely, she didn't seem to like my hair once it was no longer attached to my head.

But, I still have a happy and healthy little fatty for a baby. Even if she does have only fine little blonde hairs.
She is my brown eyed, blond hair little baby and I love her!

Tired and just Tired

So, I've been trying to get Nicole into a new schedule. She is really a fatty baby, so I've been trying to soothe her in other ways than nursing when she gets upset. This makes naptime difficult because she always gets fussy and always wants to nurse herself to sleep. But, I've been trying different methods to get her off of this habbit.

I try to cuddle her and put her pacifier in to make her think she is nursing when she is really not. This sometimes works. I try rocking her in the rocking chair, this almost never works. I've tried putting her in her bed and turning on the mobile and letting her put herself to sleep, this never works! She will just cry and cry and keep on crying until I come and get her. But, I've never let it go longer than 20 minutes because I can't handle it.

Lastly, the thing that usually works, but of course is the most labor intensive for me, is holding her in my arms and rocking her back and forth until she falls asleep. This works really well, but I hate it! I get really tired and she is fairly squirming when she is trying to fall asleep. Oye!

Naps have become very unfun for me, but I know that she needs them during the day or she will only get more upset. She is always a happier baby when she wakes up from her nap. Maybe this is just a phase and she will grow out of it. I can only hope.

Rice Cerealed

Originally, Matt and I thought that we would wait until six months to feed Nicole solid foods. But, she recently became very interested in what we were doing with our spoons and forks. She would stare and stare when we ate dinner. So, I tried her out on a little ice cream from my spoon while I was eating and she seemed really excited about it. So, we started feeding her rice cereal.

At first she didn't like it, like everything she tastes that isn't milk. But, then she got really excited about the spoon. Sometimes she gets too excited and knocks the spoon right out of my hand. That is how she ends up with rice cereal hair.

Ultimately, it is good for her to practice eating something a little more solid and using a spoon. Then, when she is six months, we will try her on foods that are a little more flavourful than rice cereal, which I hear is really bland though I have not tasted it.

Eating time is definitely a challenge because she is always wanting to grab the spoon and sometimes refuses to open her mouth. I think this time when she is nursing will be the easiest mealtimes that I will ever have with her. I should enjoy it while it lasts.

Exersaucer!

A few weeks ago, Matt won a little money in a game of HORSE. We then used this money to go on a date and buy a toy for Nicoley. We bought her an exersaucer. This is a toy shaped like a saucer with about a million toys on it.

(I actually almost got a smile. It looks different than her regular camera face anyway.)
We got it used off of KSL, but it is in good condition. At first she was really afraid of all the toys and cried when I put her in it.

But, after a few weeks she is starting to like it. She is still unbalanced and hasn't figured out that if she puts her feet down she can turn herself. She still lifts them up and tries to let them dangle, making her all wobbly in the seat.
But, she has started to play with the toys and likes it for about 20 minutes. But, that is 20 minutes that I have to blog. I think that it was a very good purchase.


(Another almost smile pic. Alas that my head is in the way.)