Family, Friends, and More

Just a few highlights from our visit to Idaho. Sydney enjoyed her time with both sets of grandparents, and they weren't exactly sad to see her either! Here she is with my mom giving her a smile.

Being reverent and waiting for the prayer to be said.
Sitting up like a big girl and loving it.
Meeting great-grandpa Henry.
Four generations - Sydney, Aaron, his mom, and her dad

A rare moment with grandpa (Aaron's dad). He's not much of a baby lover but she got plopped on his lap and he obliged.

We loved seeing all the family (every immediate family member on both sides actually!) and friends and spending time with everyone. Another highlight of the trip was when we got to have lunch at La Pizzeria (yum! Bambinos!) with our good friend Cara and she got to meet Sydney! We hadn't seen her in FOR-EV-ER so it was so fun! She even came and hung out with us while we did family photos (thanks Heath!). She's so great and we got some good quality time in! Now we're back here in Colorado after another very long 10 hour drive. We're getting set up for Christmas, so check back soon to see the results!

The Wedding

Aaron's sister Adrianne got married the Friday before Thanksgiving and we got to go to Idaho for the wedding and other activities. We drove up on Thursday November 15, and got there in the evening after 10 hours of driving (Sydney slept the whole way except when we stopped for lunch and to feed her in Rock Springs, WY - glorious place that it is.) She's a trooper and we love her even more for it. We got to see Aaron's parents, 2 brothers, and Adrianne and Michael (her intended) and they all got to meet Sydney for the first time. My sister Haylee also came over to meet her niece and my dad came to get some more grandpa time in. That night Adrianne was SOOOOOO sick (food poisoning, I think, in addition to her bad bad cold). Her maid of honor and my new friend Annie and I tried to help her get comfortable and get some rest. Friday morning the three girls (Adrianne, Annie, and I) got up and got ready, then did Adrianne's hair. I ran Sydney out to stay with my mom and dad (first babysitters!) then drove to the temple to meet Adrianne and Vonda (her and Aaron's mom). We got her all ready in the Bride's room, went to the lovely ceremony, and had pictures outside the temple. Then I went to get Sydney and we all went to the Wedding luncheon. Lots of fun with extended family (Sydney got taken away from me almost as soon as we walked through the door and I only got her back to change her diaper) and some good food too. Back to the house to freshen up for the reception and change Sydney into her own finery. Then Annie and I went and readied the bride again (you can't get into a double corset dress without at least 2 helpers you know!) The reception was very nice and we got to have a 4 generation photo with Aaron's dad and grandmother! Here they all are.

Michael played and sang a song for Adrianne by John Lennon called "Grow Old with Me" (I think). It was so sweet, but I had it stuck in my head for like a week! Saturday morning we got up and drove to Utah with Aaron's family. Way too much driving going on. Second reception in Utah that night. In desperate need of good non-fast-food and a good nap.
After the reception Annie, Brittany (a mutual friend of ours) and I ditched the rest of the fam and took off to Cafe Rio - my first time! Annie was gracious enough to give us all free meal cards, so our Girl's night ended up being pretty low ticket - free! We had a great time though, stayed until the restaurant was closed, and loved being girls and being together. Adrianne should have been there too, but her priorities were somewhere else. Go figure.

Belated Fall Pics

Two weeks ago Karen and I were out and about when I spotted some beautiful fall leaves. Since I happened to have my camera with me, we jumped out and shot a few pics. Let's just say I learned that pictures should be a lot easier once Sydney can sit up! Eli's took like 5 minutes and hers took way longer and turned out way fewer! Oh well! She's fun. :)

Can you tell how confused she is here? She's thinking, "My mom's so crazy. Why am I lying on the ground?"
Eli was pretty interested in eating the leaves. Just had to include this one because it was so cute. Now goodbye fall until next year!

Cody and Sydney Video - Finally!

Make You Want to Buy Baby Food?

When I showed Aaron this picture he said, "It makes me want to buy baby food or something." I thought it was funny, but I also LOVE this picture, so here it is for all of you to see. Sydney is a very good baby, is sleeping through the night consistently, and talks too. I'll try to upload a video of her cooing for you since it's pretty cute!

Sydney is very interested in what is going on around her and where noises are coming from. She can focus on objects more now that her vision has improved and loves ceiling fans and mobiles. Still hates her play gym we bought her, but maybe that will change. :)
She's also started smiling now. She doesn't always do it on cue, but it's getting more and more frequent. This is still about the only one we've ever captured on camera though!

Cody and Sydney

My friend Jessica brought her son Cody (on the left) over this week to visit us. He is exactly 2 months older than Sydney and we decided to take some pictures of them. Here they are looking so cute. And what a little stud, Cody even held Sydney's hand! Then after he let go, she tried to hold his! How cute. Also, she hasn't really gotten super excited about much yet, but we were making funny noises to get her to look at us and him to smile, and it was getting him all excited, so he was kicking his legs and flapping his arms, and she started to do it a little too! Monkey see, monkey do I guess! What a cute couple of babies they are!

Check out the Quiz...

You're Bella Swan - You are intelligent and kind but not quite sure what you want out of life yet. You have a feeling there's something more out there for you. You're attracted to those who are real and avoid the fake. Sometimes you're a bit accident prone, but your true friends will always be loyal to you and come to your aid when you need it.

Thanks to my new friend Carol for the quiz! Check out who you are: http://www.quizilla.com/users/twilightnexus/quizzes/Which%20Twilight%20novel%20character%20are%20you%3F

Happy Halloween!

Ok so it only took me almost 2 months to figure out what Sydney should be for Halloween, but I think it turned out pretty well and it did get done! We decided she would be a flapper! I had some extra red fabric (a ton actually, this didn't even put a dent in it!) and this great red bow that my friend Emily gave me and I thought it would be perfect! I went to JoAnns and bought the white fringe, cut out the dress, sewed it all together in about an hour or so, and had it all ready for her. Quick, simple, and cheap. The whole thing cost like $2! (I'm like you Alli, always looking for a bargain!) Anyway, here she is!




Also this is my pumpkin. I thought it looked pretty cool all lit up! I love Halloween!

Trunk or Treat

On Saturday night our church held a trunk or treat (like trick or treating, but everyone sets up their candy in the trunk of their cars in the parking lot and you get done in about 20 minutes - all through people you know and without having to drive around for 3 hours!). We decided to pop in for a bit and see everyone. Despite Syd's obvious lack of the ability to eat it, some people did give her some candy. Here she is with her stash.

Aaron dressed up as a proctologist - do you see the probe?
Sydney was a mummy. Very unhappy in this photo, but it was the only one we had of just her.
I was a gypsy.
We had lots of fun together and were glad that we got all dressed up. I can't wait for Halloween! Actually I can't wait to go after Halloween decoration shopping! Yay for Thursday!

The Rockies Baby

So so sad about the Rockies losing. I guess we're glad that they made it to the series. Just some more cute pictures of Sydney we had to post.

I Can't Believe They Lost...

This is what Sydney thinks about the Rockies losing tonight.


Still I think she looks pretty cute. Too bad it didn't help them win. :) I guess "There's always tomorrow..." Or at least Saturday when they're back in Colorado. Maybe she'll dress up for that game too.

A Snowy Day

Remember how it snowed here in Colorado on Sunday? Pretty right?

We got a bunch of snow. There's probably 6 inches of snow on the table here!
We have church at 8 am. Which means it was still snowing when we left, so we thought we'd use Syd's fancy carseat snowsuit that grandma gave her. Something didn't look right. Whoever came up with 0-9 month sizes anyway?
We settled for the snuggly polar fleece blankie instead. Too bad Syd was overstimulated by this point and was in need of a good nap and a bottle.
I guess we'll have to wait a bit for the snowsuit. :)

Don't worry though. The snow is gone now and we're having very lovely weather again. That's Colorado for you!

Woohoo!

I'm so excited! Every one of my fantabulous student secretaries that I got to work with while I was at BYU-Idaho that last summer now has a blog! That means I can keep in touch with ALL of you! I know this doesn't mean much to most of you, but it means something to me! Cara, Brittany, Becca, Rachel, and Amy are all linked on my blog now! Yay for blogs and our technological world. :)

P.S. Sadly, Amy and Brittany are not in this picture, but it was the only one I had that was remotely close to capturing us. :)

I Got Tagged...

Many times actually, but you have to start somewhere, so we'll start with the one Abby Uno just tagged me with. We'll call it - 6 crazy things about me.

1. I am deathly afraid of moths. Like seriously afraid of them. I cannot explain this unfounded and completely illogical fear. I was driving to dance practice one day in high school (early morning) and a moth flew up in front of my speedometer. I immediately started screaming, pulled my car off to the side of the road and jumped out - still screaming. Keep in mind that it was in the country, in ID, I was alone, and it was about 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning. I guess the positive things was, that since it WAS in the country, I only scared cows. I don't think any humans heard me. Which means it's a good thing it was just a moth.
2. When it starts to snow, I get this overwhelming urge to paint things. Not wall or canvas type painting, but craft painting. I don't paint hardly anything during the rest of the year but as soon as it snows I'm going nuts to be crafty.
3. I was a history major as some of you know. History majors have to write A LOT. Big research papers where you analyze the details of what happened and talk about it. Here's the confession. I loved writing the papers. When I graduated, I was actually sad that I didn't have any papers to write. I love sitting down at the computer surrounded by books with my CMS manual there to guide me in making sure my footnotes are properly created. Ahh, I miss that. Maybe I'll write a paper on something. What should I write it on?
4. This one really won't come as a shock to most of you, but I'm seriously like 5 years old at heart. I love toys and books (I own the coolest little dolls, and lots of toys that Sydney is not nearly old enough to play with, but we have them because I love them and I am determined for her to love them too). I also love cartoons - the classics like Disney, and the unfamiliar (to some) Magic School Bus. I think there is only 1 DVD that I don't own. And I love them.
5. I used to read the encyclopedia - for fun. This resulted in me being such a nerd that I actually corrected my 6th grade teacher on our spelling test. Let's just say I got teased more than a few times for that...
6. My parents had a cassette tape of the Pocahontas soundtrack when we were growing up. When we went on road trips Haylee and I would listen to that tape non-stop pretty much the whole way. We got to the point where we actually could sing all the songs, even the ones not in English. My dad couldn't stand it after about the third time (could you if your kids were listening to weird songs in Indian languages?) and we thought he'd go crazy, but being the patient person he is, he put up with it. I can still remember all the words to the opening song - "In sixteen hundred seven, we sailed the open sea, for Glory God and Gold, and the Virginia Company..." This came in handy when we learned about Jamestown in college. As I remember, we had a quiz or test that asked us to tell what year the Virgina Company left for the New World and 3 reasons they did so. I totally answered based on the song and got the Q right! Good thing Disney did a little research!

I now tag Karen, HAYLEE (this means you have to actually blog), Jane, Cara, Katie, and Kristin.

Answers

I thought I'd answer a few questions I've gotten on here lately.

1. Yes Brooke, I would love it if you added me to your blog list. You don't need an invite or anything, you can go ahead and do it.
2. Yes Abby, Aaron actually does do diaper duty.
3. Rachel - I TOTALLY remember you (how could I not?) and want to read your blog if you have one. Please let me know because it's not showing up on your profile!
4. Thank you to everyone that we have recently been able to reconnect to - it's been so fun to see what all our old friends are up to and get the chance to stay in touch again!
5. Reorganized all the links on the side. I think the list was getting more than a little out of control, but if I have the link on here, I check it regularly, so you all get added, because we love you. ;)

Baby Shower

Ok so on September 29 my wonderful friends Karen and Jordan threw me a baby shower. I'm sorry it's taken so long to get these pics up, but I had to steal them off their blogs since I have none of them myself! They were both so awesome (as was our AMAZING friend Stacy who graciously invited us into her lovely and very clean home - she cleaned her shutters and her fridge for this!). They did a great job and good times were had by all!

The sign on the garage that Stacy made - too cute!

Getting lots of gifts while Jordan was good enough to feed my crying baby. Thanks Jordan and thanks everyone for the gifts. :) You're all so sweet.
The darling food and decorations. First, I love the clothesline idea. Too too fun. Second, do you see the work of art that is that diaper cake? I've made diaper cakes before and this one was a seriously constructed work of perfection. And had the cutest ribbon known to man!

There was a pink and brown theme (hooray!) so all the food and everything was pink or brown. pink marshmallows, pink M&Ms - thank you breast cancer awareness and m& m corp - chocolate fountain, etc. It was awesome and I love you all! Thank you and I'm sorry it took me so long to post this!

The Routine

About a week or so ago, (after we discovered how much she and Similac don't get along) Sydney put herself in a routine. I was totally good with this routine, so I have encouraged it completely! Here's how it goes. She wakes up from her nap (often screaming).

Then she gets to eat a bottle (she's up to 4.5 ounces at each feeding!)

This bottle was courtesy of her grandpa (my dad) when they were here last week.

Then comes some snuggling time - Yes, I actually am asleep, my sister caught this while she was here this weekend. Can we say sleep deprived? ;)

Next comes playtime! That's actually her hand, she just has a sock on because she was cold. Looks funny though! Also, please notice the beautiful quilt she is on, made by my good and talented friend Brittany (check out her blog on the right and see her newfound cake decorating skills!)

After a while, Sydney gets tired of all the stimulation and starts fussing, so we put her on a blanket on the floor and she amuses herself by looking around the room. Good thing her vision is changing so I guess she gets a new view every day! She sits quietly and has her "alone time" until she starts crying, then we swaddle her up and put her in bed. This whole cycle gets repeated about every 4-5 hours (from wake up to wake up, including the sleep). Not too bad for a 5 1/2 week old right?!? I'm hoping she'll start sleeping through the night sometime soon since she slept for about 7 hours the other day (always while I'm awake though). She's a pretty good baby!

Daddy's Girl

So sorry people, things have been a little busy around here! Last weekend my parents came out to see their new granddaughter and this weekend my older sister, Jessica, came out to meet her niece. We had loads of fun with everyone and miss you all, now that you're gone. I'll post more on both of these visits a bit later, but I thought I'd at least explain why I hadn't blogged. :)

Ok, so I'm still trying to work through some back photos I have of Syd, so here goes 1 post. Sydney is such a daddy's girl! I think she came out this way and it's been fun to see them together. There were even a few times when she was younger when she was crying, I was trying to calm her, etc. and Aaron came in and spoke to her and she quieted down! I'm glad they get to have fun together and interact, although I think it makes it harder for him to go to work when he knows that she's at home. ;)

Here are some fun pics of the two of them that I love:

Just hangin' with dad

Snoozin' on the couch. Just like dad does every night. Like right now.

Bring on the Christmas Cheer

When I walked into Borders today I saw a big sign that looked just like this. It didn't say when it was coming out or anything, but I immediately went nutso! I LOVE Josh Groban - as everyone who worked with me at the Soc/SW dept. can attest to, especially Martie ;) - and, like Karen, I LOVE Christmas Music and could listen to it all year round. I may have to go put on my ELF soundtrack here soon. :) So honestly, what could be better than a Josh Groban Christmas CD? Do you know how happy I am? Yay! I must get this. Also, for your information, I went on Josh Groban's website and discovered that the CD came out on Oct. 8. I'm a little behind apparently...

Another Milestone

Sydney hit another milestone recently. Since she lost her umbilical cord stump, she could finally have her first real bath! No more sponge baths for this baby, and hallelujah since she hated them vehemently! Here are some pics of the event:

Is it just me or does her belly look really big right here?

She doesn't look too sure about this whole "in the water" thing, but she wasn't screaming and I think she even liked it!
Just too cute not to post. Showing the bum cheeks.
Very sad to be out in the cold air after all that warm water. Probably something like her birth, warm and cozy to bright and cold. No one would like that - would they?
I know these are short posts and I apologize for anyone coming here for anything but pictures of Sydney. I promise to do a real blog post again soon, I think I'll follow Jordan's lead and do my favorite products, but it's getting late and I really should go to bed. Or read Twilight. Which should I do? Hmmm.

Something's Missing...

On September 27, Sydney's umbilical cord stump fell off! Now she's a big girl with a belly button!

And a full tummy in this picture!

All Dressed Up...

This was on September 23, Syd's first day at church. We just went to the main meeting and then came home, but it was fun to see everyone again. These pictures were taken after church when she was being so good and lying on the floor. Isn't she a cutie!?!

What are you thinking little girl?

Showing off her bracelet that mommy made. A girl needs her accessories right? ;)

No Posts for Awhile...

I really have had good intentions for posting in the last week. Somehow none of it worked. This is about how it all went each time I got on:

11:00 pm or 12:00 am - Get online when Aaron goes to bed. Why did I wait this long? Who knows. (Probably had something to do with us watching season 3 of the Office each night to get caught up. Now we just need to see the first 2 episodes of season 4. Anyone know where I can find that?) Anyway, I got online, checked my email, and went to blog. When I got here though, I started looking at all of your blogs and seeing what you were up to. About halfway through the ever growing list to your right the Internet inevitably crashes and sends me to bed. Lesson learned, quit being so darn interested in your lives and become more self absorbed. I'll work on that. Please accept my apologies. ;)

I'll try to post some new pictures and things in chronological order so you can pretend that I actually posted them when I was planning on it...

Goodbye MDC Holdings...

I'm not going to say that I'm sorry to not be working anymore. I really enjoyed my co-workers and it was great getting a paycheck, but there's no chance on this Earth that I'd miss any part of Sydney's growing up or let someone else raise her for me. That's my job as her mother and one that I've always wanted.
I do have to admit though that I feel a little weird. I've been cleaning off my computer tonight so that Aaron can take it back to the office for me and I feel weird and a little naked. Deleting all these files and knowing that I won't have a computer always at my side is a little weird feeling since I've had it for 2 years. Aaron will bring his home at night so I'll still get to blog and everything, but it's a strange feeling knowing that one of the last pieces of normalcy that I had is leaving in about 6 hours. Also my work cell phone will go away, and my air card that gave me Internet access. I really need a laptop and high speed Internet at home. Also Macromedia Fireworks (software program).
Now you will all know why I won't be on IM or Google chat very much anymore (during the day at least), but I will try to continue blogging at night and keep up with email then. I'm feeling a little strange, like this is real, and not just a game or anything, so here's to growing up, moving on, and turning in my laptop. It's been real, and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with at my last (paid) job before leaving the job market. Thank you to Michael, Michael (yes, I am sleep deprived, but no that's not a typo, there are two), Mary (even though you're gone), Ryan, Bunny, and especially Chris. You guys are all awesome and I wish you the very best (who knows if you will ever read this, but oh well!). Goodbye MDC after 2 years - the longest I've ever worked anywhere other than as a student! Now I really need to go feed my baby. I can't believe she's not screaming bloody murder since it's been nearly 6 hours since she ate. I think it's a record. Bye. :)