Happy Birthday Daddy!

Sydney is such a daddy's girl. She has always loved him and she will usually only cuddle with him. She gets giddy excited when she hears the garage door open when he comes home and chants "da da da" until she sees him, when she grins and squeals with delight. She had a few things to tell her dady on his big day (which was actually pretty quiet).
Dear Daddy,

You are the best daddy in the whole world and I love you so much! I love when you throw me up in the air and make me giggle so much! You are my best friend and you always share your food with me! You always play with me and cuddle with me and you even give mom a rest from changing my diapers and looking after me when you come home! You make me blocks and toys and you always pick me up and kiss me better when I fall down and cry. You're the best! I love you!

love,
Sydney

Happy Birthday Aaron! We all love you so much!

So Big!

Remember how little she was the first time she drove?

She's grown a little bit!
She got to help daddy pull the truck a few feet up the driveway!
Then she went for a ride on the garbage can! She's so big!

We took Sydney to the doctor yesterday for her one year check up. She is 29 1/2 inches long and weighs 21 lbs 10 oz. She's in the 60th percentil for weight and the 50th for height, and her big old noggin' is still in the 97th percentile. She's growin' big brains!

We've been shopping for car seats and long shirts lately (I'm finding that my shirts are inching up while my pants are inching down, so there's a couple new inches that need to be covered!) . Being tall already, it's been a little interesting finding shirts long enough - good thing it's the fashion right now! On the car seat front, I'm finding that not all car seats work so well in all cars, and that it's a little tricky getting 2 car seats in the back seat together, especially both rear facing. What happens when we get 3 kids? With the car seat rules these days, we'll have to have 3 side by side! Nice little situation, but we'll figure it out! (But not for a long time still!)

On another note, Sydney is at such a fun age! She is so perceptive about everything lately! We took some garbage out to the curb today and she spotted a leaf lying on the road. There was some water running down the gutter so we sat down and made leaf boats and floated them down stream. I gave her leaves and she tossed them into the water (instead of eating them!), then watched them float away and lifted her arms up in a "where did it go?" gesture. It was so fun.

Babies, Babies, and more Babies!

Just had to do a quick shout out to the 2 new moms in my life - my sister Haylee had her baby (all 9 lbs 7 oz of him!) on Monday night and my friend Cori just picked up her baby from Korea! I am so thrilled for both of them and can't stop smiling! What a great week! Congratulations to my 2 favorite new moms!

Car Seat Advice

Ok I need some advice on car seats. It is time to get Sydney a bigger one, and we want to know which ones you all have used and whether or not you like them. If you know about one that your friend likes, let us know that too. We want to know what you love and hate about those car seats and whether you feel like you got a good deal for what you paid. Tell us if it is wearing well or if you feel like it will be done for after 1-2 years. Let us know your thoughts!

Feelings of Entitlement

Just some random musings here. I was reading today and came across a point where some men say "it is our right," and it made me stop and think. What makes us have such feelings of entitlement? I understand making a deal with someone or exchanging goods and services, but that's not what I mean. I'm talking about true feelings of entitlement. For example, I know many couples who when they were first married felt they were entitled to the many comforts and conveniences their parents had after 30 years of marriage. I felt entitled to give birth (until I got over that and we got Sydney). Others feel entitled to good health or affluence, despite their lifestyle choices and work ethics. Does this make sense yet? Why do we feel the world owes us anything? What have we done that makes us so special? It's normal and human to feel this way, but why? No answers today, just thoughts.

High School Revisited

I got tagged on this by a friend I met a year ago, so it was fun to see her HS self. Here's mine:
1. Did you date someone from your school? Never more than once.
2. What kind of car did you drive? A red/maroon Ford Tempo that we sold the day we moved to Colorado. No joke.
3. What was the most embarrassing moment of HS? The only ones I can think of had to do with costume problems at Dance performances. I never had a "wardrobe malfunction" because I had the good sense to wear both underwear and opaque tights, etc. at all times, but there were a few moments where dresses came undone while on the dance floor, skirts fell off on stage, etc. Oh, wait. I just thought of one. Senior year I played Meg in Brigadoon (she's the slutty comic relief character) and I sang a song about all the guys I'd slept with while making some rounds in the audience. I ended up getting pulled down on my back on my friend's brother's lap - and he'd been home from his mission for like 2 days. I guess it was probably even more traumatic for him than me!
4. Were you a party animal? Yes. It was not unusual for my mother to get a call late Saturday afternoon or early evening checking to make sure I could bring "a few" friends out. She started getting smart and asking how many to plan for after awhile. There were usually about 30 people there and she always provided food.
5. Were you considered a flirt? Not until college.
6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? I was in orchestra for 1 year and choir for 3.
7. Were you a nerd? This will be further answered in the following questions, but yes. Completely.
8. Were you on any varsity teams? Um, no.
9. Did you get suspended/expelled? For what? No.
10. Can you still sing the fight song? I don't even know if we had a fight song, so no.
11. Who were your favorite teachers? Mr. Emfield, Mr. Jones (both History teachers!), Mort, and Mr. Ward.
12. Where did you sit during lunch? It was different each year. Sometimes in the commons at the tables and sometimes we had a group that sat in the stairwell.
13. School mascot? This is Aaron's favorite. He thinks it's hysterical that our mascot was the Trojan and the town our school was in (not where I lived) had the highest teen pregnancy rate per capita. Really. Jay Leno even mentioned it.
14. Did you go to homecoming, and with whom? Yes, um I have no idea. Our school had tons of dances and it was my goal senior year to go to all of them, which I did. That's way too many dates that didn't end up mattering.
15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? I was desperate NOT to leave high school because I loved it, but looking back, NO WAY!
16. What do you remember most about graduation? Writing my Valedictorian speech on the way to the ceremony and being glad I got to sit on the air conditioned stand, not in the hot hot hot group of graduates.
17. Where did you go senior skip day? To school. See #7. Also the school said if the seniors didn't do senior skip day we'd go on a senior trip. Which we did, to Lagoon. Ooh. That said, I think this is the one and only time in my life I actually went on roller coasters or crazy rides and liked them. I guess you're only young once.
18. Were you in any clubs? National Honor Society (pretty much on paper only), Ballroom Dance Team, Showchoir, Choir, Orchestra (for a time), and Bell Choir (I know it's nerdy, but it was actually really fun).
19. Have you gained some weight since then? I've definitely gained, and then lost, and my current state means I am on the gaining side again.
20. Who was your prom date? Um, Thayne Dawson maybe? Once again, can't keep the dances straight.
21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Not unless I happen to be in town. What's the point?
22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? Enjoy it all and don't stress so much.
Tag some people: you, you and you!

Here's to you Baby Girl!

Where Did My Baby Go?

Remember how last year she was this?


And now she's this? What happened?


Last year on September 9 Sydney was born at 12:45 am and we met her at 3:30 that afternoon. Over the past couple of days I have been sort of reliving these days from last year and thinking how different life is. Case in point - I was up this morning changing nasty pee sheets from her crib and bathing my icky baby, whereas last year on this day, it was my second to last day getting ready without a baby. Weird. We're so glad to have you Sydney and we love you soooo much! Thanks for coming to be our baby! You're such a good girl and Happy Birthday!

Best Day Ever!!!

I'm pretty sure Sydney thought she'd died and gone to heaven on Saturday. I don't think it gets any better than her day did when you are one! First I finished sewing a dress for her. We were having a luau party for her and she had nothing to wear! I was totally excited about the dress because I didn't have a pattern - I winged it and it turned out great (if I do say so myself)!

Every party dress needs a bow!
Her first strawberry. Big surprise, she loved it!
Whacking Churro - the chocolate filled burro
More than a little confused about the "pony rides"
The cakes - the writing was perfect until I put it in the fridge. Then it bled. :(
Dad is giving me fire?
I can get messy and you don't care?
The family!
Wow that was yummy cake! She ate almost every single bite!
I taste good!
Fastest way to clean up!
Opening presents!
She was so good almost the whole time! She was entertained by all the other kids, thrilled that she was being fed, completely focused on devouring her cake, and in a total sugar rush for presents and socializing with her guests afterward! It was a really fun day! Thanks everyone who came and made it so fun! I'll try to post the video of her destroying the cake next.

We're Not Telling...

I was amazed with the ultrasound yesterday. I knew they were advanced, but we got to see the blood rushing through the umbilical cord, and the little teeny valves in the heart opening and closing! It was incredible! I had no idea that you could see that much detail! Hooray for the uber big screen my doctor has mounted on the wall so you can see lots of details! Everything is going really well as far as we can tell and she seems to be fairly comfy in there for the time being! Only another 20 weeks until we get to see her for real! Oh yeah, it's a GIRL!!!

Things That Are New

I think this post will catch us up as far as pictures go! Here are some new things we've been experiencing in our house.

Sydney has been able to drink from a straw for awhile now, but she thinks Capri Suns are the best ever. She hasn't figure out how to get the straw in the little hole yet, for which we are grateful.

Not really new, but funny. Sydney stuffing as much biscuit as possible in her mouth at once.
The new frequent state of our house. Toys are constantly strewn everywhere as Hurricane Sydney leaves chaos in her wake.
Her first Nintendo game. Pretty soon she'll be able to whup us both. Can you see the little competitive gleam in her eye?
Sydney entertaining herself while I get ready means I have messes to clean up afterward.
The cupboards are really super exciting I think. She likes to eat soap. Gross.

She can now pull herself up to standing even in the tub!

We have pretty colors in our garden!

We will post soon and let you all know what else is new in our little family! We know you're all waiting anxiously! ;)

Creepy Quarantine House

I promised Katie a post last week and never got it up. Sorry Katie, but here it is now. Remember on ET when they come in and put plastic up all over the house to quarantine it? That's what my house looked like last week and the week before. I've told a few people that and they didn't believe me, so here's my pictorial proof. In this first you can see our refrigerator in our living room. This was our only major appliance we got to use while they replaced our kitchen floor.

Our kitchen. I discovered I couldn't live without my microwave so I had Aaron cut open the plastic and we made ourselves a little door.
The living room from above. Notice the plastic ceiling that can be seen slightly in the top right corner. They literally sealed the house off so they didn't get dust everywhere while they were working.
A decent view of the doors we had around the house. They are plastic and zip shut. It was very interesting unzipping them and re-zipping them while holding Sydney. Bending up and down like that gave me some seriously sore thighs for awhile.
We're extremely grateful to have our house and all our appliances back! Although it was fun not having to cook and going out to eat all the time, it was awful not being able to cook anything. We like our modern way of living. Hooray for having our house to ourselves again.

A Real Nightmare

The other night I dreamed that Halloween had come and gone and I missed the Halloween clearance sales. It was a very sad day. But then I woke up and it was so crisp and cold outside I couldn't figure out if it were true or not! My brain is more than a little screwed up right now. Ultrasound is on Thursday though, so that's exciting!

Idaho Pics 3 - aka The Wedding

OK, here's the official reason we went out that specific weekend. Aaron's little brother Garth got married and Kiery officially joined the family! Hooray! The ceremony was beautiful, the weather was hot hot hot (have I mentioned that I struggle now with the heat?), the dinner was uber-yummy (I don't think Sydney had a single complaint until they put the food away) and gorgeous since it had cooled off a bit, and the reception was fantastic, relaxed, and fun. Kiery and Garth both seemed pretty relaxed about things and weren't stressing all day, which will make their memories even better! Here's the happy couple outside the temple (which is behind me)

I really love this picture. Kiery's face is so classic.

Almost everyone has a goofy look in this one too. Keep in mind that the real photographer was to my left, so who knows what Garth & Kiery were looking at!
The ring ceremony - I really liked her sparkly dress
Aaron and Sydney at the ring ceremony goofing off. They were brilliant and chose to give fans as their wedding favors. Smart move guys!

The cake. Such a candid shot. I love it. Thanks Adi.
Another stolen pic. Where was I and where was my camera? Good thing my sisters and sister-in-laws were prepared during this trip!
Sydney trying to catch the bouquet. While watching this and the garter throw I had a flashback to my own wedding where little Garth caught the garter on his head and my sister Haylee (now married and 36 weeks prego) caught the bouquet. Ah, good times.
The next morning we headed home. We went through Wyoming, so it was far less beautiful than the Grand Junction drive (sorry Justin, it's scrubby!), but there was WAY less construction and far fewer abrupt changes in altitude. The result was that Sydney slept a lot more (sing praises), I discovered that sea-bands do not work on me (drat), and riding in the car for long distances in my personal condition is way more than uncomfortable, it's downright painful! But we made it home, we are all safe and sound, and Sydney is tearing up the house and keeping us on our toes! Whew! Now I'll try to post all our pics from the last 2 weeks!

Idaho Pics 2 - aka We Have a Really Cute Kid

Sydney is making lots of silly faces lately

Most of these were captured by my sister Jessica. I mean all of them. Thanks Jess.
Especially for this one. It's the best! She makes this face and blows air in and out her nose like a bull. The best part - she's not mad. Just a ham.
Uncle JC gave her 2 demo phones (like you see in cell phone stores). He has all the hook ups. Maybe this is one reason she loves him so much. He gave her her first phone.

A pinecone! Amazing. She tried to eat it. Big surprise.
With cousin Kayden. This big boy is a tank, and only 4 months older than her! I think it's funny how much smaller than him she is, and she's not a skinny little baby! Notice her head is like the same size as his though. My big brained baby. :)