Seven

This little nugget is seven months. HOLY COW.

Visiting with Great Grandma Whittier over Labor Day.

Tuna came to visit! I realize Lauren's head looks super weird in this, but she actually was pretty good with Tuna. We had fun shopping at City Creek baby free for the day. And watching the classic movie "Clue"!

This was at Paul's work party at Bookdocks. She did really well, even though she missed a nap. I think there was plenty to see so she was distracted. This is the ONE time she actually tried to hold her sippy cup and drink from it. She hasn't shown any interest since.

Me and two of my coworkers had babies within 3 months of each other, so we try and get together once a month for a play date. It's getting more fun now that our babies can actually do stuff!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day. If you dressed up and went to Krispy Creme, you got a free dozen donuts! It was awesome. Lauren didn't really care for the donuts though! Oh well, she will in years to come.

She is fascinated with rain. She'll scoot over and watch it. Or if the sprinklers are on. Free entertainment!

Same with the washing machine. It's so exciting.

Another visitor- Grandma Whittier! She brought toys and clothes and Lauren did pretty good with her too. It was so fun having her here for a few days. I loved having an adult to talk to during the day!

 Yes, she gets cuter and cuter every day. And can also throw bigger and better tantrums almost every day too. Lately she's got this thing going on where she completely arches her back when she doesn't want to do something, like go in her high chair. Poor Paul, he took an early lunch yesterday so I could go to an eye doctor appointment, and he told me as he was trying to put her in her high chair for lunch she arched her back and smacker her head against the wall. Needless to say, lunch was traumatic for him.

-She can roll anywhere she wants to go and can scoot around in a circle pretty good. Close to army crawling. I'm not worried. I'm trying to take advantage of these last days of her not being able to get into everything really quickly.
-At her 6 month appointment she was in the 90th for everything, which I'm not surprised about. Apparently she's roughly the size of a 10 month old. Because of that, she doesn't need to have as much formula, and now we are focusing more on solids. She likes pretty much all baby food but MAN, the novelty of eating from a spoon has worn off with her so she swats it away and a lot of times. It got to the point where I would have to turn on Baby Einstein so that she would let me feed her. I bought some reusable baby food pouches (because the ones at the store are way more expensive than jarred baby food). So now I just put her baby food in those and it is so much better! She loves it. . for now. I guess when that wears off too I'll go back to the spoon because maybe it will seem like a new thing for her? I don't know.
-She's getting a lot better at self feeding, but she's kind of picky with that stuff. I think it's a texture thing. But so far she's a fan of pancakes, bread, american cheese, hash browns, Nutrigrain bars, Ritz Crackers, Mandarin oranges, and probably some other stuff I can't think of. If you have any suggestions on other good starter finger foods, I'm all ears. I get bored feeding her this stuff sometimes. She's not a fan of eggs or avacados, or canned green beans.
-She can scoot around pretty good in her walker too. She still can't go straight forward, but pretty much every other angle she can, so she gets to where she wants to be. It's pretty hilarious.
-She goes to bed around 7 each night and sleeps for a good 12 hours without us really hearing a peep from her. This is awesome and I try to remember to be thankful each day for that! She also take a good hour ish morning nap, and an early afternoon nap and a late afternoon nap(though I really think I'm going to have to cut that one soon. . . it's getting very inconvenient.)
-No teeth yet, but there are bumps. The bumps have been there for months though so we'll see. Her hair is starting to come in, it's looking a little fluffy on top finally! I don't think she'll be a blondie. It's already looking light brown to me. Her eyes are still a darker brownish color so we'll see if that stays too.
- We're working on teaching her how to wave. I think she's getting it. . .every time I get her up from her crib she turns and waves at it! It's so cute. I don't know if she really understands what she's doing though.

She's our little munchkin, and we love her guts, even when she is grumpy and clingy.

What We Don't See

This Mormon Messages clip has been circling (guys, I just had to retype the word "circling" like 5 times until it was spelled right. That's the level my brain is functioning at right now. Gives you an idea of what I'm about to blog about) around my social media lately and I know I am not the only one who has cried tears of joy/understanding/giving THANKS to whoever was inspired to make it.
Because all of us have days, weeks, months, and years like this.

And no one sees it.

At least, there are plenty of times where I don't feel like anyone notices. It's more like, what's there to notice about my day today? A lot of times I look back and feel like I did nothing to show for it. Even though I did laundry, swept up for the hundredth time sticky baby food off the floor, wiped down my bathroom, made our bed, went grocery shopping, paid some bills, filled up the car with gas, etc. Now, don't go thinking I do all those things every day, all day. It's just stuff that I feel like I do all the time, but it's more like there's just that one more little thing to do that no one cares about, yet still feels like it needs to be done.

And that's not even tying in all the "motherly" duties that have now become just as much. Constantly changing diapers, spoon feeding food only to get it spit back out at me when she's totally over it, bouncing in my arms while looking out the window, or at anything that will distract her from crying, putting down for naps, getting up from naps, giving baths, making bottles, reading stories, picking up toys and giving them to her to be played with for 2 seconds then get dropped again, etc, etc, etc.

And no one sees it. And yet this is my day, every day. And that's how it will be for the next X amount of years.


Satan is the one who wants us to feel like nothing we do matters. He wants us to become discouraged and throw our hands up and say "WHY am I really doing this? ANY of this? Who is even benefiting from it? All I feel is tired, and burdened and don't see any end in sight."  And I will admit that there have been plenty of times when I have felt that exact way. It seems more so lately. I feel like I am the biggest critic of my mothering skills, which I know is really ridiculous because NO ONE SEES. But for some reason I feel like I fail all. the. time. Especially because no one is here every day to cheer me on and pat me on the back and say "Hey, your child is still alive and thriving, good for you!" Or "Look at you trying this technique out on her even though it didn't do anything, way to give it a try!"

I always forget that there ARE others who see what I do every day, all day. And who I should remember really are cheering me on, even though I can't see it. But I bet if I took a minute or so each day, I could feel it. And feel better.

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are always right there with me, and with you, in whatever your day to day life is. Whether you are at work all day and don't get a second glance at the work you produced, or you are at home with kids and at your wits end from being so tired and up to your neck in things you need to get done, we are not alone.

This video reminded me of that. And the small and simple things we do each day, that we don't even give a second thought about, most likely are benefiting someone. We just don't see it.

But Heavenly Father does, and He loves us. He thanks us every day for being moms and doing our best to raise good kids, even when it feels like we are getting no where. He thanks us for doing our best at our jobs and other commitments because He knows we are trying. And that is what matters.

Half a year

I know I've been bad about keeping up this blog. . . but in all honesty, I don't know what else to put up on here besides stuff about my child. Since I now don't work, and have a kid that likes to go to bed at 7, my life isn't really that exciting anymore. It's a good life, but to me it just doesn't seem like I do enough stuff to brag about on blogger (because let's be honest, that's what most blogs are about. All the cool stuff you do).

So, I might update more sometimes, or I might not. Guess we'll see what is in store for us.  . . . which right now isn't much!

Anyways, here's stuff about Lauren. Because really that's all people want to know about anyways.

Babies change so much so fast. It's like overnight she's decided to do something totally different! She's pretty good about sitting up on her own, but I like to bring some pillows along just to help out when we're at the store. So far she's been really good about it. . she's constantly turning her head looking at everything around her. It's a whole new world for her. 

 I'm really loving the stage she is in right now. She's so smiley and laughs a lot, is easily entertained (and sometimes I catch her playing in her crib by herself and it is so cute), and is SLEEPING from like 7 p.m.- 7:30 a.m. most nights without waking up at all. IT IS GLORIOUS. And she's getting pretty good at taking an hour and a half nap in the morning, and a good one and a half to two hours in the afternoon, and sometimes another short one around 4:30 ish depending on when she woke up last. But that last nap is probably going to get cut out soon because it's very hit and miss. 

This was one of the last times she actually let me put her in the bumbo. Even then she was fussing so I just tossed her bib onto her and it seriously landed like that! It caught her by surprise and she stopped crying long enough for me to snap a picture. But really, she decided over night she hates that thing and would always arch her back and cry when I would try to put her in it. So we just use the high chair now. (I bought a travel high chair that looks like a camp chair and can fold up really easily. It's awesome.)

I don't remember why I took this picture, probably I thought it was cute how intent she was on playing with those toys in front of her.

 This lady loooooves the water. Really really loves it. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa Siddoway have a pool in their backyard in Kayesville so we have put it to good use! She right now is going through a "fun" stage of hating it when I have to pull her arms through her clothes, so she was screaming bloody murder while I put on her swimsuit but once she was actually in the water, she became a happy baby once again. She's figuring out that she can kick her legs and splash and it's really cute. And Paul and I are really really white.

 Sitting up like it's no problem at all. . . . and check out that cowlick in the back of her head! It's a perfect little swirl. It will be interesting to see how her hair grows in with that there.

Paul likes to play the game of putting things on her head and waiting until she notices that.

Snapped this while she was napping one day. Aren't sleeping babies just the cutest? And check out those cheeks.

She looks like a thug in the picture to me. Grocery shopping really wears both of us out. 

Things Lauren likes:

-looking out the window at cars

-sitting on dad's shoulders and grabbing his hair

-people clapping or snapping their fingers

-music, especially songs like "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" and "Popcorn Popping", and Dad's guitar music

-anything she can easily grab and put into her mouth

-FOOD! Most solids we've tried with her she's a big fan of: sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, squash, applesauce, pears, etc. Doesn't like bananas at all though.

-blowing raspberries. She is a blowing raspberry machine! It's real fun when she decides to do it while eating. NOT.

-watching you stick your tongue out at her. For some reason this fascinates her and she will just stare and stare at you while you do it over and over and over and over and over again. 

Things Lauren dislikes:

-sitting up when she's tired. 

-getting her arms pulled through her clothes

-not having something to play with while you change her diaper

-having to wait 2 minutes to have her bottle while you prepare it. You have to do it fast if she's in your arms or else she'll scream and grab at it until it is in her mouth.

-not being able to drink out of our cups at mealtimes. I give it to her when I'm done, otherwise I would have to deal with her fussing and reaching for it. She already knows to put it up to her mouth. Hopefully when it comes time to change to a sippy cup it won't be that hard?

Anyways, that's about it for now. She really is so so so much more fun now. When people ask me if I like being a mom, I try and be honest and say "I do now!" And sometimes I  get weird looks and then I explain that the first 4 months of her life were NOT fun at all and I seriously questioned my sanity multiple times a day. There are still hard times and I know more will come, but at least I am seeing some personality with her now and that makes such a difference! So those of you going through the trenches with the newborn stuff right now, it WILL get better! I promise! 

Fab 5

You know, I feel a little sheepish admitting this, but I used to be one of those people who rolled their eyes whenever I heard women say things about motherhood like "Being a mom is hard, but sooooo worth it." I would just get sick of hearing it because I obviously had no idea what they were talking about. Well, now I do. And YES, I agree a billion times with that statement now. 

But in a way I always wished that moms would get a little bit more specific about what exactly was so hard, and yet what still made it worth it. I obviously have very little experience in the motherhood area, but I do understand somewhat now. I understand what is hard for me. And I will tell you a little bit about what is hard. 

It's hard to have no clue how your day is going to go. And it's hard to be home most of the time, doing your best to keep this little human on a "schedule" and pray that they will nap in the car on your way to your destination so that you won't have to deal with them screaming while you are out in public. And then it's hard when it doesn't go how you planned at all and you just have to figure out how to deal with it in the moment. It's hard having a child who decides they don't like other people besides you and your husband and scream bloody murder when anyone else holds them, because then you don't really get a break. It's hard doing the same thing day after day after day and right when you think you've got them figured out, they grow and CHANGE and you are back at square one. It's hard going on trips because you have to pack way more stuff like diapers and wipes and oh should I bring the bouncer so she has somewhere to lay besides in my arms? What about our baby monitor so that we can hear her? Will there be a plug in the room she's sleeping so we can plug in the sound machine? What time should we leave so that we can drive while she'll nap and not have to stop and feed her somewhere? Do we have extra clothes in case she has a blow out in the car? Then it's hard going on a vacay because you JUST got your child on a decent schedule and now you are out of town doing abnormal stuff and that schedule is flying out the window and you are helping your kid take naps when there's a window of time and it's probably just going to be in your lap and you're just going to have to sit in the same spot and "visit" instead of doing stuff because if your child doesn't nap then this super lame thing called "overtiredness" occurs and your baby becomes TOO tired to sleep and just cries and then you just want to cry because it's all just SO HARD and you realize you are just flying on the seat of your pants doing this whole parent thing and are thinking if only there was a specific instruction manual for your child out there somewhere so that you could actually feel like a champ parent for more than 5 minutes, then maybe the stress would ease a little bit. *deep breath*

So yes, I'm starting to get why it's so hard. 

And thankfully, I am also getting that second part. The whole "it's so worth it" part too. That part is harder to put into words. I just look at this tiny human and there's this love you can't describe and even though it is hard and sometimes you feel like you are beyond the breaking point and have no clue what else to do, you will keep trying. You will not give up on this tiny human because of this love. And you start to get this little glimpse of the whole point of being here and why the family is central to the great plan of happiness because for some reason raising children still brings joy a midst all the hard stuff. Like, when you lay next to your child playing on the floor and she rolls to her side to face you and puts her hands on your face and gives you the biggest toothless smile anyone has ever seen and you know you are her favorite person in the world. Or when you realize she is the only person you will do absolutely ANYTHING for to get a laugh out of her, like to the point of pretending to cough/throw up because she finds that stuff hilarious. And when you go in to check on her before you go to bed and she is actually sleeping and looks like she is sleeping soundly and is all sprawled out her in crib and you can tell she's content and your heart just about bursts of love for her. That's the kind of stuff that makes it worth it. 

Ok, motherhood rant OVER for right now. Now I have to catch up on this past month. 

Little Lauren Amy is now 5 months. No longer a newborn, just a full blown baby. Grabbing at stuff and shoving it in her mouth (this includes my hair. She has a vicelike grip!) eatin' her solids like a champ. The girl loves food. I haven't really ventured much outside the oatmeal and rice cereal stuff yet. She's only tried bananas and pears so far and isn't too big a fan of the bananas, but likes the pears pretty well. We'll see what else she'll prefer.

Lauren's first trip out to the Siddoway cabin by Vernal was actually a good trip. I'm trying to remember to have super low expectation when traveling with a child so that if things actually go well, it's awesome! And if not. . well, then it's what I expected. Anyways, she had to sleep in the same room as us which I was NOT looking forward to, but she actually did pretty well. We had gotten to the point a couple weeks before this trip that we had to do the cry it out method with her because she was seriously waking up every 45 minutes night after night and I was so sick of feeling like a zombie that we just did it. And it worked like a charm! She still cries some nights, but it's never for very long and she sleeps SO MUCH BETTER. It was so SO worth it.

Anyways, the cabin trip was awesome. So relaxing. Like, I read-a-whole-book kind of relaxing. I love how quiet it is up there. And it's gorgeous. I'm glad Lauren will have that place to go visit each summer just like Paul did growing up.

 Speaking of Paul, I feel like she is looking more and more like him as she is getting older. She already has the brown eyes. And we compared pictures of him as a little kid and she is so similar.

 We also got this walker from my parents. Pretty sure it is at least 20 years old, but it has stood the test of time! She's not cruising around in it yet, but she does push herself backwards in it and enjoys it when she's not tired. I can tell she's done with it when she starts to fuss and just lean really far forward. It's kind of funny.

 This was what I found when I went in to check on her after a cry-it-out session happened during naptime one day. Looks so comfy. . . .

She might be a gymnast some day.

A few more things about her-

I've almost got her completely weaned off of me. After weighing all the pros and cons, it in the end came down to my sanity and I decided that formula was the way to go with her now. She doesn't fight the bottle, I don't have all this pressure on trying to figure out what I ate that she didn't like and overall it's just going better. 

She's rolling to her sides and is really close to rolling over, just hasn't quite done it yet. And she's scooting around a lot more when she's on her tummy towards things she wants to grab. She likes to laugh when we do dumb things. She's like me-loves to be entertained by weird stuff. She's already outgrown her 6-9 month clothes and is now in 9-12 month stuff. Her head is still giant and her poop is now a lot more gross to me that she is eating solids. Less blowouts, but nastier stuff. If she poops while Paul is home I always make him change her. Ha ha. Unfortunately that's not often. He needs his share if you ask me. 

And there you have it. Another month come and gone. 

In Memoriam

I don't know if I will actually be able to put into words the emotions I have been feeling this past week, but I want to try. 

Emma became a good friend of mine our senior year of high school. I have memories of playing card games and watching movies in her basement multiple times. I have memories of having good heart to heart talks in her car late into the night. Mostly about boys, but also about life. I loved those talks because afterwards I always felt better. Emma had a way of making people feel better. 

As I have been reflecting on all the memories I do have of her, I do not have a single bad one. I don't recall her ever saying mean things about anyone. Ever. She was not that kind of person. Perhaps that's another reason why I loved being her friend- she was someone I looked up to and wanted to be like. 

To try and put into words the grief and heartache I felt when I was told of her passing is not possible. All I felt was numb shock. Not Emma, who was  pregnant with her second child. Not Emma, who still kept in touch with me via our own personal blogs and other forms of social media because she lived across the country. Not Emma, who was one of the most Christ-like people I have ever known. Why her? Why right now? 

That was my reaction. 

I cannot even begin to imagine the grief and pain her husband and family members are experiencing right now. All I know is my own grief. It has been hard to accept that she really is no longer on this earth. 

But what is so amazing about having the knowledge of the gospel in my life is while I am still grieving, I have peace. I know that Emma is already doing marvelous work on the other side. Heavenly Father needed her to come back. Just as she served so many people here during her life, she is now serving so many more beyond the veil. I don't doubt that for a second.

Her funeral was a beautiful service. I am so glad I was able to attend and honor the life she did live here on earth. And I am so glad that she was part of my life. She always will be. 

I know this is not goodbye. 

How grateful I am for the Atonement at a time like this. Jesus Christ knows the pain of grieving for someone who has died. He grieved for his friend Lazarus, even though he had the power to raise him from the dead. Jesus Christ has felt that pain. And because he has, he is the one we can turn to because he DOES understand. And he CAN make us stronger. He wants to make us stronger.

I have a testimony of that. 

I love you Emma. I am looking forward to the day that I can see you again. 

It's been a month

Yes, yes, I know. It's been a MONTH since I last blogged. In all honesty, I have had ZERO desire to blog for the past 4 weeks. For some reason this past month was hard. Hard, hard HARD.

I usually try and be honest and lay everything out on this blog, but I don't really feel like going into details about this past month. Let's just say that I tried to get her on a better schedule but that didn't work. And she got some sort of minor illness which resulted in a few weeks worth of pretty sleepless nights for us. AND I think she might be more sensitive to dairy than I originally thought so I am now trying for the next month to be completely dairy free. ( I MISS MY CHEESE! *sniff*)

Anyways, the sleepless nights made the past few weeks seem kind of foggy, but I did still manage to take some pictures of the good times so here you go.


First off, I had a birthday! Paul treated me to a pedicure so I had a wonderful relaxing hour all to myself. It was GLORIOUS. That was pretty much the only thing I did differently that day. I made my own birthday cake, which was actually a dessert I grew up with creatively called "Pudding and Cake". It's basically angel food cake ripped up into chunks and mixed with pudding. It may sound and look gross, but it is GOOOOD.

Pretty sure this was taken the next day, or week. . .I can't remember when. But we were just watching some tv and hanging out with Lauren and we thought she had just tooted, but then I looked over and saw this river of poo going down the side of Paul's pants. HIl-AR-IOUS. She didn't even bat an eye.

Our carpet is now very clean in that one spot.

We also went up to Idaho for our last official Whittier reunion. *sniff*. It was fun! Except that it decided to RAIN the one whole day we were up there. We stayed at the West Piney Girls' Camp. Luckily they had a big lodge so we didn't feel all crammed in there, but it got kind of old hearing the constant loud noise of kids running around and shouting and crying. Lauren helped us snag the best room out of the whole place though. Thanks to her loud cry, we were given the only room on the ground floor, complete with our own bathroom! She actually did pretty good while we were there. I'm not used to sharing a room with her though so every noise she made I feel like it woke me up!  Here's a couple pictures our cousin took of us while we were up there.

She did seem really happy to be back home though! Except that's when the awful sleepless nights for us started. There were a few nights in a row where she would wake up every 45 minutes just wanting her pacifier. SO ANNOYING. But that's when I wondered if she was actually sick because this happened out of nowhere and she's usually a pretty good sleeper. She also started sounding really raspy, like an old lady so I think she had some fluid back by her ears, which made her want to suck on her binky to help with that. She also started to have some bloody diapers and that's what made me realize maybe dairy isn't agreeing with her right now. So I've cut it out completely and will see how this month goes. Luckily it hasn't been to hard. But if that doesn't do anything for her I think I'll just go through bottle boot camp with her and switch to formula because I don't have the patience to try and cut out something else to see if that helps. I may be a bad mom for thinking that, but I do need my sanity in order to function. She used to be awesome at taking a bottle, but then suddenly one day just stopped and refused it. I got tired of fighting with her so I just gave up, but I know I'll need her to take it again. Any advice on what to do? I'm thinking it might come to the point of just making that her only option and eventually she'll take it because she'll be so hungry. That sounds awful though. But changing my diet even more sounds worse to me and she isn't a dream eater anyways so I can see myself switching to it eventually anyways.

There's a little mobile on her play mat that she loves and one day it fell down and landed like this at the top of her head. Looks like a real neat hat.

We took her swimming in Grandma and Grandpa Siddoway's pool and she really liked it! Well, she didn't cry at all the whole time, just looked around and really liked sucking on a pool ring toy. Both of them might not look too happy in this picture, but it went really well! 

This is what happens when I'm not in the room with these two. Shenanigans like this ensue.

One night I swaddled Paul. He said it was actually quite comfy. I could see myself feeling claustrophobic though.

We FINALLY got a "new" couch and loveseat! Our friend from Logan was moving and sold them to us for a good deal. I didn't want to buy anything brand new since we now have a child and I know that stuff is going to get on them, but I was so sick of the other crappy ones we had that were really, really hard to get out of (even though they were comfy) when you are holding a child with both arms. So this was a perfect solution.

Chillin' in the bumbo, or "bimbo" as my Mom thought it was called! Ha ha.

This is also a new thing she likes to do-put her foot up against the wall while I change her diaper. I think she's realizing she has feet because she touches a lot of stuff with them now and looks at them all curious like "Hey. . . .I think you are a part of my body. . . let's try this."

That's it for now! She's as chunky as ever, now in 6-9 month clothing. I take her into the doctor tomorrow for her 4 month check up and shots so we'll see what percentile she's in now! I'm thinking still 90's for most of it. We shall see. And then it's heading up to Idaho Falls for the 4th of July. YAY!

Three

Three months. I have been a parent for three months. Some days it seems like it's been soooooo much longer than that, and other days I swear she was just born. Life is funny like that.

Anyways, everyone said that once we get to the three months mark and mostly out of the newborn stage that she would get so much better. I'll admit there were many MANY times I didn't believe that, especially late into the evenings when she was crying and crying and I felt like this was all it was ever going to be like. . . that my child would always be this way: pleasant some of the time, and then super grouchy and crabby the rest of the time, and that was just the way it was.

Well, thankfully I have already seen a HUGE improvement in her during this past week! It's been so nice. I guess people who had kids before me actually did know what they were talking about. Ha ha.

I feel like she is starting to hit so many milestones right now! I love it. It's like one day she just decided to try all these things. For instance, tummy time is going so much better now. It's like over night her neck just got a lot stronger and she doesn't mind it nearly as much.

She also started rolling over onto her back when she gets tired of being on her tummy. It took her a few tries. She would mostly get there, but had a hard time lifting her chunky legs. But now she can do it.

She talks to me so much more now during the day. It's constant cooing and gurgling and a lot of times she is so serious about it! It's hilarious. She really wants me to know what is on her mind. We've gotten her to laugh a couple times, but she's still stingy about it. She giggles when Paul kisses her cheeks. Must be the facial hair that tickles her.

We've also tried out the bumbo a few times and though she's not a huge fan of it yet, she will sit in it for a few minutes. The main challenge is getting those chubby legs through the holes! It's hilarious to me for some reason.

She made her first out of town trip with us up to my parents' house in Idaho Falls for Memorial Day weekend. She did great! I tried to time it for our trip up and back that she would just sleep, and it totally worked. I have to take advantage of this while I can. She was very friendly to all the family that was there. But once she's done being social/starts to get tired, she lets you KNOW. She's still a very hot and cold baby emotionally. Paul *ahem* politely pointed out that he thinks she gets that from me. He might be onto something.

She was able to meet Great Grandma Whittier for the first time.

And here we are just hanging out. It was nice to get out of town and be around other people who wanted to hold her. So far she still doesn't show any stranger anxiety and I hope that continues! Though she does recognize us as her parents and that's cute to me.

Unfortunately I picked up a cold while up visiting so a lot of my time up there was spent laying around and just trying to breathe! I was so paranoid that Lauren would catch it to, in fact I was expecting it. But miraculously she only had a cough for a few days. Still, being the paranoid new mom I am I took her into the pediatrician a few days after we got home. Her lungs were clear and everything so I was able to feel better about that. They did weigh her and she now weighs 13 lbs 11 oz. She's gained almost two pounds in just a month! I'm totally ok with that. What a cute chunky monkey.

We spent a few times a day in our bathroom doing steam room sessions. That helped both of us.

Her eyes are already changing color. Some days I see a lot of brown in them, and some days I see more green. Whatever color they are going to be, I doubt they will be blue. I'm thinking brown but we'll see. I also think she's going to be right handed. That hand seems to be the one she tries things out with first. She can grab with that hand pretty good now, and she uses that arm to push herself to roll over too. Just some observations of mine.