Our girl

Little Miss has had a fun and exciting week. First, her daddy had a surprise 5 day weekend so they got to spend a lot of time together! It was really nice for all of us. We didn't do anything really exciting except go to the Sixth Floor Museum. By the way if you are ever in Dallas I recommend that you go there, it is definitely worth the $13 dollars (even though we got in for free!)

Little Miss is getting so very big. She now eats oatmeal, sweet potatoes, green beans, and applesauce. She does pretty good too!



She is finally taking a pacifier.



Just in her own special way of course!

She is really active too, always on the go which makes me one tired mama! Everyone in our ward comments on how active she is. She literally is only still when she is asleep and not always then either. She is finally going to bed earlier too and staying asleep for most of the night. Thank goodness! She is also very vocal, always screaming or babababaing the night away. We can't make it through sacrament without needing to go to the foyer so she can talk without disrupting everyone.

She is sitting up really well and falling backwards really well too! She is so close to crawling, kinda. She gets up on her hands and knees, looks forward with determination, kinda wobbles back and forth and plops down. She cries. Then gets up again and does it again. very cute!





We are so blessed to have Little Miss in our lives! She really is a good little girls that has completely stolen our hearts!

Journal Jar question

I have decided that every Thursday, I am going to grab a question from the journal jar and and answer it in my blog. I have a hard time keeping a journal and this is the only writing I do so I thought I might as well be productive. I hope it doesn't bore it!

Side note: I have over 10 pages of possible questions with about 40 on each page and I decided before I actually make my journal jar I would just randomly choose a page and then just close my eyes and choose the one I would answer and what do you know but I choose one that has a lot to do with one of my passions.

What do you think about movies? What is your favorite movie?

What do I think about movies? I LOVE THEM. Well most of them anyway. I still remember going to the movies with my dad once on a special date. It was just us and he took me to see The Little Mermaid. I remember loving that night. I think that is when it first started for me. This was a while before my parents divorce, but after my dad moved to Murray, UT, when ever we would go to visit him one of the things he would do is take us to go see a movie. I don't know if my brothers or sisters enjoyed it as much as I did but it really bonded dad and I. He is my first movie buddy. I dragged him to all the chick movies and he never complained. He never made fun of me because of it.

The thing I think makes me love movies is that you get to "experience" so many cool things that I never really could. It may sound stupid but I have enjoyed these "experiences". I have been all around the world from the Himalayas to the Sahara. I have met some very interesting people like Ghandi and Jane Goodall. I have fallen in and out of love. I have helped Harry Potter defeat Voldermort on several occasions. I have sung with Bing Crosby and Denny Kaye, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland. I have defeated mummys and vampires. I have even saved the world!

My favorite movie of all times is "Never Been Kissed" with Drew Barrymore. It is a cute movie about an under cover report that gets to go back and redo High School. It is such a cute movie. I remember the first time I watched it and how it made me feel. I have seen it too many times to mention. I highly recommend it


This is my favorite quote from the movie. Josie is talking to her best friend Anita about kissing guys and how she has never really kissed a guy but she is whating for that special first kiss. "That thing, that moment, when you kiss someone and everything around becomes hazy and the only thing in focus is you and this person and you realize that that person is the only person that you're supposed to kiss for the rest of your life, and for one moment you get this amazing gift and you want to laugh and you want to cry because you feel so lucky that you found it and so scared that that it will go away all at the same time."

Free Museum Admission!‏

I am so excited about this. Branch and I love doing things for free! We already decided that we are going to the Sixth Floor Museum (which is about $20 each so we are saving a lot of money here!)

Saturday, September 27th, is free Museum Day and visitors will be admitted free to hundreds of museums and cultural venues nationwide! To qualify for this opportunity, you must present a specially printed admission card that can be found in the September 2008 issue of Smithsonian magazine on newsstands everywhere. Another source for this admission card is online and downloadable at the link below. The card gets you inside the doors at no cost, but does not include entry to special exhibits or IMAX screenings, where applicable. Also, rain checks will not be honored. There is a link on the site that lists all of the participating venues.

http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/about.html


******UPDATE:
I just read that in 2009, you can get into Disney Land for free on your birthday. Not sure of the details, but Branch and I have decided that we are going on my birthday or his in 2009. That is June 26 or December 29. Anyone else want to come?*****

Little Miss

I actually really don't like filling these things out but this one I decided was a good topic so humor me for a minute. It is a baby questionnaire so it is all about Little Miss.

1- Where​ were you when you first​ found​ out you were pregn​ant?​
At our apartment in Dallas

2- Who was with you?
Branch

3- How did you find out that you were pregn​ant?​
Took a pregnancy test.

4- What was your first​ react​ion to findi​ng out you were pregn​ant?​
I freaked out a little truthfully, I had just moved here, been working for one week!

5- Your Husba​nds react​on?​
He was excited. Later I was annoyed I was the scared one and Branch was the excited one. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around.

6- Who was the first​ perso​n you told?​
My mom, Branch's parents then my daddio.

7- Did you plan to get pregn​ant?​
Yes but not for a couple more months

8- Was every​body happy​ for you?
I hope so.

10- Did you go out and celeb​rate?​
We went and cleaned the church after!

11- Did you want to find out the sex?
Oh yeah! We both did.

12- What was the sex?
A girl.

13- Did anyon​e throw​ you a baby showe​r?​
We had a combined shower for the 4 nieces that came within 5 months of each other. Then one that Tara threw for me and one at work.

14- If yes, who?
Mom, Tara and Tamala.

15- Did you get any outfi​ts at the baby showe​r that you just knew you weren​'​t going​ to put on your baby?​
There was one that Tamala gave me that I thought was going to be ugly but was really cute

16- How much weigh​t did you gain?​
25 pounds.

17- Did you loose​ all of the weigh​t that you gaine​d?​
Yes, but I still have a pouch though.

18- Did you get a lot of stret​ch marks​?​
I have a round spot of stretch marks were Maya's head was.

19- What did you crave​ the most?​
Chocolate, oranges, something different every month

20- Did you crave​ anyth​ing crazy​?​
I wanted to but never did.

21- Who or what got on your nerve​s the most?​
People that told me I was looking really big. I was only measuring 31 weeks at full term, I wasn't big.

22- Were you marri​ed at the time?
Yep, 3 1/2 years.

23- Did you have any compl​icati​ons durin​g your pregn​ancy?​
Little Miss was breech. She had to be turned before they induced me. She was measuring small and had low fluid leavels.

24- Where​ were you when you went into labor​?​
Labor and Delivery room at St. Pauls Hospital.

25- Did your water​ break​?​
I was sleeping from the sleeping medicine they gave me, then it broke. I looked at Branch and said I think my water broke. He got the nurse and sure enough!

26- Who drove​ you to the hospi​tal?​
Branch did.

28- Did you go early​ or late?​
9 days early.

29- Who was in the room with you when you gave birth​?​
Branch, Dr. Littles, Dr. White and a nurse.

30- Was it video​ taped​?​
Not the actual delivery but everything else was.

31- Did you have any drugs​ for the pain?​
Epidural! Loved it but not the headache I got.

32- Did you go Natur​al or have a c-​secti​on?​
Natural.

33- What was your first​ react​ion after​ givin​g birth​?​
I said "Oh my gosh, she had Branch's lips!!"

34- How big was the baby?​​
Little Miss was 6 lbs, 1 ounce, 19 1/2 inches long.

35- Did your Husba​nd cry?
No, the big jerk.

36- What did you name the baby?​


37- Did the baby have any compl​icati​ons?​
Nope, she was perfect!

38- How old is the baby today​?​
5 and 1/2 months old

39- When is the next one comin​g?​
In about 2 years we think.

40- Are you marri​ed now?
Yes, almost 5 years now.

41-​If you could​,​ would​ you do it all over again​?​
Yes. I would even with the colic and everything!

We're ok

I wanted to write a little post to just to let everyone know that we are ok. While Hurricane Ike was pretty bad for southern Texas, especially Galveston and Houston, it barely touched Dallas. It was a tropical storm by the time it came our way. They were predicting 40-60mph winds and it was barely windy, they were also predicting up to 12 inches of rain and we might have gotten about 4 put the rain wasn't bad either. We have had worse before. The worse part for me is that it has been really gray outside and it made me gloomy! The gas price went up a little from where it was. We were lucky that it didn't go up as bad as it did in the southern part of Texas.

Anyway, we are great!

Where were you that September morn?

Today is the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

I remember very clearly were I was that day. I had gotten up at 6am for an Institute meeting. It was just another normal Tuesday for me. After the meeting I went back to my dorm and went to sleep for a couple more hours until my first class. At the time I never listened to NPR but the night before I had been listening to some classical music and so when my alarm went off, it was on NPR. It was a reporter talking about the World Trade Center, which I had never heard of, the local elections that were going to be postponed and they were talking to Mayor Rudy Giuliani. They kept saying that they thought it was an accident. I was so confused. I had no idea what they were talking about. I laid in bed trying for 20 minutes trying to figure out what was going on. Finally I thought I had it figured out and I went out to talk to my roommates. We didn't have tv so we couldn't turn on the tv to get more information.

I remember being scared thinking that it could happen to us. I remember being so mad and so scared with every new report of the second plane, the Pentegon, the towers falling, the plane in Pennsylvania. I remember being so sad for those that lost their lives and for their family members. I remember how everyone banded together after and donated blood and did what they could to help those who had been affected by the attack.

I still can't believe it has actually been 7 years.

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day

I'm a big kid

Little Miss had a big week this last week.

She went to her first baseball game to see the Red Sox beat the Rangers. Se did pretty good, though near the fourth inning she was so tired and hungry she would cry her really sad cry every time there was cheering, which was a lot. I finally had to go into the bathroom and feed her! Thank goodness they had some folding chairs in there and I had my hooter hider. Branch and his family are big fans of the Red Soxs so I was excited that we got to go see them play.

Little Miss has been pretty good about going to bed early too. 8:30 or 9 is wonderful for Branch and I. Unfortunately, I usually am so exhausted I am not up to much later than 10:30 myself. Because she is going to bed earlier she is also getting up earlier too!

We think Little Miss is teething. She has been super cranky lately. She has a small fever, not napping well, she got up twice last night. She had been sleeping 10-12 hours straight so I am not use to being up in the middle of the night anymore! I don't see any teeth buds but I still think she might. Any suggestions?

Another big thing in our life is that our little girl is growing up so fast! She is 5 months old yesterday and she started eating rice cearal on Saturday. She does really good actually. She is always trying to grab our food and so we knew it was time to start her on solids. I was actually a little sad because it is such a big step in her life. I am glad that she is growing up and learning but holy crap it is happening way fast!

Well, in the grown up lives not a lot has happened for me anyway. I got a new calling teaching primary. I teach the CTR 7s which actually means I have 6, 7, and 8 year olds and they are all GIRLS! It is hard because they just want to talk, talk, talk, talk, talk and talk. I am adjusting! Branch is having a good semester. It is nice having him home more. We are trying to enjoy it as much as we can because next semester he has rotation and then he will be working! He has his senior paper topic (knee replacement stuff with cartiladge or something like that, ask him if you are interested). He has to have 30 sources! Yikes!

Well anyway, I have to go! Love you all!

What a week

Well, it has been a crazy week. Branch started school again last Monday (only 2 more semesters!) then on Tuesday we had our flood. The update on that is that we did get our padding replaced but they sucked that up. There are areas were you can feel a inch gap in old and new padding! Argh! Then when they did replace it they broke the door to our bedroom and didn't tell us about it. So we call our apartment maintenance about that and how our washer still is broken. But it was a three day weekend and when I called to see when they were coming they said to give them a couple of days! Yeah right! We haven't had a working washer in a week! And our door to our bedroom is off its hinges and they were supposed to hang a thing for me in the wall a month ago! Argh! I still try to remember that it could have been worse. Plus we did stay in a nice expensive hotel for free so that was fun and we had red lobster so we can't complain for the "mini staycation".

Then on Thursday, I really wanted to get out of the house so we decided to go to the zoo in Fort Worth. I have lived in Texas for a year and had never been to Fort Worth. I didn't really want to go until October because it is so stinking hot here still, but we went. We invited Tara, Allen and their two kiddos. It ended up being so much fun. It was cool to see the animals. My favorite was the Gorilla that was sitting near a window literaly 10 inches from me and he kept looking at me. He was also eating his own feces but that is another story... It was really hot and humid but we had buildings to escape into. Little Miss did really well too, thank goodness!

Before the whole flood business we had decided it was time to start sleep training Little Miss. It is hard and yet a lot of people complain about the crying but we had a colicly baby who is still really sensitive so the crying is not that bad to us. I don't know if it is actually working yet. Do you mothers have any tips, ideas, anything? Please let me know...

So far this week has been good. We are going to a Pampered Chef thing for Tara tomorrow so that will be nice to get out of the house, then on Saturday we are hopefully going to a Rangers vs Red Sox game. Branch and his family LOVE the Red Soxs so this is going to be really cool for Branch and I. Last time I went to the Rangers I was 4 months pregnant and so tired that I actually fell asleep!

Well anyway, I will try to post pictures and video tomorrw! Love you all!