What Am I, Crazy?!

THERE IS THIS THING I SAID I WOULD NEVER DO AGAIN

After an excruciating drive up and fly back from visiting family for Thanksgiving, I decided that I would not take a trip again until Baby Girl was old enough to appreciate audiobooks. This time it went fairly well, actually. Baby Girl fell asleep in her carseat with barely a whimper. She played happily with her baby toys. She sucked on her pacifier and gazed at the stunningly frozen landscape outside. It wasn't that bad at all. 

My sister Anna asked if my mom and I could come up to Spanish Fark to be with her when she got induced. I got a call late last Friday that she would be induced Monday morning!  I still had to go back and forth from the hospital to feed baby girl since she is so stubborn about bottles, but it worked out great and I didn't miss Baby S's arrival! She is a tiny thing (6 lbs 15 oz) but she is very sweet and cute and looks just like a girl version of her brother. Anna was so brave and strong and didn't give in when she was hungry and I told her to cheat and eat some of my vanilla wafers. When it was time to push, she had the baby out in less than 10 minutes. Good job, Sis!

MY 4 Month-old TURNS PAGES WHEN WE READ BOOKS

Adam didn't believe me, so I filmed it. 

(I really don't know if that's cool or not... but being her mom, I definitely think she's a genius!)

THERE ARE THINGS YOU LEARN BY BEING HOME ALL DAY. EVERY DAY. 

(I think I "re-learn" this lesson all the time): Don't wait until you "feel like it". Just do it. Sometimes you may feel like you need to rest before getting around to everything else, and you may even feel quite justified at getting a rest seeing as how the baby still wakes up 4x a night, but no amount of rest is enough to make you want to do something you don't want to do now. After two weeks of doing the things I don't want to do now first (instead of at 4pm...or, lets be honest, not at all) and resting afterwards, I feel 10x happier. I know... "duh", right? 

For da Gramas

OK FIRST THINGS FIRST.

Here you go, grandmas;

Lookin' 'dorable in her christmas pajammers!

 Almost smiling for the camera...

 Love the fat rolls.

She's got my eye color but those are definitely Adam's big eyes!

She can roll over but seems to forget just how she did it every time we put her on her tummy. Her favorite thing to do now is grab anything that touches her and try to suck on it. She still tries to have little conversations but its hard to keep them up when you have fingers in your mouth! 

THE HOLIDAYS ARE PAST AND GONE

and I really cleaned up this year!!! I feel pretty spoiled... Adam and his family got me an ipad, my sister bought me a whole bunch of new clothes, and my mom got me an autoharp. Then I got a fuzzy robe for my anniversary which I hardly ever take off because I get cold so easily. Now I can start a folk band with the autoharp, get the chords on my ipad, and wear a robe while doing it. Props to my peoples. Ultimate props. 

LISTEN UP, PEOPLE WHO ARE OR WILL EVER BE PREGNANT

when they tell you "don't lift heavy objects" for a few weeks postpartum, don't ignore the advice. You basically have no core muscles after giving birth. so DON'T. Its not worth it! I hurt my back carrying the baby in her dumb million-lb carrier on September 26th and the sciatica (shooting leg pain) has not stopped for one minute since then. I went to the Dr. again on Thursday and he thinks its a combination of tight muscles and a herniated disc in my spine. Now I have to go to a physical therapist for who knows how long and take handfulls of ibuprofen and tylenol every day. Do not let this happen to you! 

Triple Threat

THE END IS NEAR
of Adam's schoolweek before break! I am so excited that he has 2 weeks off starting Monday.  He informs me that he has a lot of studying to do.  I inform him that I don't care. Christmas is here! This year it's my family's turn so we're staying in Tempe. We'll all be together except for the Nanners and Garrick. Sadness. Christmas week is a triple threat for Adam:
The 25th is Christmas
the 27th is our Wedding Anniversary (this year is our 4th)
& a few days later its my birthday (maybe I shouldn't be putting so much personal info on a website???). Bring on the festivities!!!


THE BABY WANTS YOU TO KNOW SOMETHING
She likes: Kisses, her changing table, snacking in the middle of the night, soft blankies, toys and people's hands that she can put in her mouth, going outside, kicking, christmas tree lights, songs, and smiles.

She Dislikes: everything else.

You Are My Sunshine

NO MORE BOUNCING

Since baby girl was 3 weeks old, we have been doing everything to keep her from crying. When she cries, she cries HARD and LONG. and goes from tired to overtired to valkyrie mode (I guess some babies just fall asleep on their own from the beginning? I hate you if your baby does that!) So this meant bouncing, rocking, swaying, swings, shushing, humming, singing, swaddling, re-swaddling, pacifiers, white noise.. basically a LOT of work. And no matter if we started at the first yawn or at the first wail of sleepiness, she still cried for at least 10 minutes before falling asleep.  Sometimes she cried off and on for 40 minutes.  Once a week she had a total melt down where it took 2 hours of crying on and off to fall asleep. And when she wakes up from a nap early after only 20 minutes, the bouncing would begin AGAIN.  And so on and so on.  

I officially went on strike on Sunday.  I didn't let her cry by herself, I simply just sat there and hummed, patted her back, and let her wail her head off. Eventually she fell asleep. I looked at the clock- from put down to fall asleep mode it had taken 15 minutes. The same 15 minutes of her wailing where before I rocked or bounced her.  EUREKA! Today, however, she woke up from all three naps early and I ended up patting her practically all day long.  Sure beat bouncing on that devil exercise ball all day long though!!! 

And she is STILL a happy baby despite all the torture her nitwitted parents put her through:

BABY GIRL LIKES TO CONVERSE

11 Weeks old and already has the gift of gab;

OUR LIZARD IS DUMB.... OR JUST VERY SNEAKY.

Yes. That is a cricket on his head. 

I LOVE OUR HOUSE

We are so lucky to be living in my parents' rental house. It is cozy and cute. We have a real couch for the first time in our marriage! Heck, more than that, we have a DISHWASHER! I like, actually do the dishes now instead of letting them pile up in a heap!

But what's really cool is that we get to live by my family and eat dinner with them every Sunday night. This last time, my mom lit a fire and we all sat in the living room, talking about who knows or who cares what.

It makes me sad thinking about all the lonely people in the world. 

Luke 14:

12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

 13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor,  the maimed, the lame, & the blind; 

I am incredibly inspired by loving people with nurturing hearts who can make other people feel welcome and loved no matter who they are. I hope someday I can be rid of the fear and uncertainty in my own heart that often holds me back from being the person I want to be!

The Giving of Thanks

DRIVING WITH BABY GIRL = CRAZY but WORTH THE TRIP
a 10 hour drive took us 15 hours.... I guess this is just what being a parent is about! We decided I should fly back instead of drive since sitting for so long is hard on my sciatic nerve and Adam would drive back with his brother.  Baby girl cried THE ENTIRE FLIGHT. Good thing I sat next to the jet engine- i think it drowned out her cries a little. Anyways it was a great thanksgiving.

IN SPANISH FARK
My Grandmother Lucille got to see the baby the day after we arrived, along with my sister and my nephew, James, who as you can see is still doing the whole cello-out of a -ukelele thing except now its even cooler with a hawaiian shirt on. We dropped off some of his Christmas presents from Grandma B (my mom) and he promptly opened them... oh well... everyone had fun playing with the magnetic color bucket game including my husband, my uncle, and my brother in law! We visited again on Sunday night for a pre-thankgiving "preview" and played who what where with my cousins... which resulted in some awesome drawings (ie: "grandma getting married at a gas station" and "hermione granger having a staring contest at the grocery store")

IN PLEASANT GROVE

There was a lot of relaxing (when the baby wasn't having to be fed or bounced or coddled).  I played SuperNintendo for the first time and rocked it...sort of... We got a visit from our friends Paige and Joe, ate some awesome food, and just enjoyed the fam. One day, we went strolling through downtown... yeah not much there. Only several boutiques and a park. It is a cute city nevertheless. 

the view from their front/side/back yard of Mt Timpanogos is stunning! 

I AM THANKFUL FOR LOTS OF STUFF
especially family :)

Pre-Turkey Pontificating

MAKING BABIES LOOK LIKE ADULTS IS FUN

Adam and his brother, Philip, got this lovely shot for instance, of Baby Girl postulating on the themes of Tolsoy's Anna Karenina before her nightly re-reading of Eric Carle's Brown Bear Brown Bear.

IS THERE A PAGAN GOD OF BABY SLEEP?

I'm sure you can guess what that question implies. 

LIFE IS NOT FAIR

I know this. Yet it still bothers me sometimes. I don't think I should have to have searing pain in my sciatic nerve for 7 weeks (and counting) after giving birth to a child. Then I remember all the people starving around the world- especially the babies- and I feel very, very grateful for my privileged existence. 

TO THE LAND OF ICE AND SNOW AND TURKEY DINNER

Roadtrip on Thursday to the inlaw's- that's something to talk about. I know we will survive it somehow. Somehow.. we will end up 630 miles away from our current position but I can predict already that I might lose my sanity along the way. All week, I've been making a mental note of what miiiiiight help in the car:

1. Window Shades

2. Breastpump

3. White Noise CD 

4. Painkillers 

5. Earplugs

6. Can you give a 2 month old benadryl? Jk.

She just does NOT like being in the car so far. My husband and I have different philosophical leanings when it comes to dealing with her:

ADAM: you KNOW, Emily, we are just going to HAVE to let her cry a lot.

ME: *glaring look* you KNOW, Adam, sometimes we ARE going to HAVE to pull over. 

We will get there. At some point in time, we will be there, and it will all be over. Until we head home, that is....

MAYBE SHE'S NOT THAT BAD

Quarter's End

ADAM IS HOME WITH ME THIS WEEK

it is technically his 'finals' week but he was done with his finals on Monday and... despite all he had going against him (moving, new baby, wife who watches too much tv)... got all A's. It is so nice having him home. Yesterday we just hung out and read books all day but today we are back in gear.... I just swept and mopped the whole house and Adam's in the back yard pulling out stumps. 

VIVA LOS SAKIEVICH

My supercool inlaws visited over the weekend for baby girl's blessing. They used to live here in Ph-Town but they moved to Utah for Papa Sakievich's job. It was fun watching her with her aunt and uncles!! She slept through the whole luncheon we had on her behalf on Sunday... which many of my awesome Bosen cousins came to. There is nothing more relaxing than hanging out with family.

AND NOW A PHOTO DUMP:

Super awesome pony shirt...

Her favorite place is on the changing table... its next to a window