Davey at 5 Months

I absolutely love this little boy. We all do. And he's growing so fast. While I've been busy with travel, and work, and Sophie, and all the day-to-day stuff, he's changed from a little newborn into a bouncing, drooling, giggly boy. He's at a fun age and really interacting with us more, but we are also staring to need to keep a closer eye on him. One night we suddenly looked over and he was holding a dinner knife, and the other day he wiggled right out of the bouncey seat. He is fast and really has perfected the two-hand grab, and will snatch anything that comes into his range. This boy's going to be trouble when he's mobile...

Davey at 5 Months

• Is 28 inches and 18 pounds, pretty much double his birth weight. I can barely squish his sausage arms and legs into pajamas these days. 
• Wearing size 3 diapers and 12 month clothing, although I still have all the 9 month stuff in his drawer because, even though it's getting tight, I have a hard time letting go. 
• Still all gums, which is great because his cue that he's hungry is to bite down on my shoulder and that's going to hurt once his little teeth come in.
• Goes down for 11-12 hours at night with 1-2 feedings. He also takes 3 naps a day for 1-2 hours each. His feedings rarely last longer than 10 minutes - he's a speed demon!
• Does not like to sit (he goes rigid when I try to put him down on his bum), but if I can get him in the position he can do it independently for shorts periods of time. 
• Can roll both directions when he feels like it, but normally doesn't care to even try until I put him down in the crib. Then he rolls around like a wild man. 
• We haven't started solids yet (no growth concerns with this chunker), but might try them next month. 
• Sometimes his hair looks reddish in photos, but I think it's just his pink head showing through. I'm 95% certain it's going to be brown when the rest of it comes in. 

He loves to suck on his toes. If he had discovered his feet a month earlier it would have been great entertainment on our car trip. 

This was the first moment I actually saw him roll back-to-front. I find him in different positions and places all the time, but rarely see the moment he makes a move. 

Love those squishy cheeks and long eyelashes

Anything he manages to get his hands on goes straight into his mouth - you have been warned!

Video: Davey adores Sophie. I remember feeling guilty at the beginning for how much attention he was taking away from her, but I am so glad she will have a sibling to grow up with. I'm sure they will have plenty of fights, but he is going to be her buddy for life. 

Back to School BBQ

It's almost school season again! Every year before classes begin there is an employee picnic at the school where I work. It's just hot dogs + potluck sides, but it's fun to see people and they get some bounce houses so Sophie always has a fabulous time.

This will be my seventh year working at the elementary school. I have really loved my job and it's been such a blessing during all these years Dave has been in school. I never thought I would be a working mom, but I think I'm going to find it a little hard next year when I have to say good bye.

Video: Sophie rocking the obstacle course. This year she wasn't afraid of the big kids and did this about 20 times and then slept very good that night :)

The 500th Post

I want to take a break from our usual updates to celebrate the 500th post on the blog!! For those who know my commitment to keeping a journal, this is a big deal. I probably logged only a dozen entries over a decade, but a few years after we got married I decided to to try a blog instead. I thought it would be a good way to keep a family record, stay in touch with family/friends who we don't see often, make use of photos so they weren't just sitting on my computer, and encourage me to take more pictures so I would have something to blog about. After seven years later it's still rolling, so I'd call it a success!

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed trying to stay on top of things and not fall behind, but I've never lost the motivation to keep it going, and today I'm so glad we have it. I refer back to it often. It's fun to take a little trip through time to remember what Sophie was like as a baby, or see what we were up to during the MBA years, or relive a vacation. I would eventually like to have it printed as a book, which I'm sure will cost a fortune, but you can't put a price on memories, right? Here's to hoping we reach 1000 posts someday!

Us in the fall of 2009 when the blog was born

Seven years and 500 posts later!

What the Hail?!

On Saturday afternoon Sophie and I were both in my bed attempting to take a nap (I was closing my eyes, while she kept snaking all the way down under the bedspread before popping out at the foot of the bed), when we suddenly heard super loud pounding on the roof. We ran downstairs and opened the front door to find the biggest hail storm I've ever seen. It wasn't Texas big, but impressive by Utah standards.

I grabbed a few hail stones for Sophie to hold because she didn't understand what was going on when I said "balls of ice are falling from the sky!"

One of our cars was already undercover, but I was worried about our other car out in the open possible getting damaged. It probably would have been fine, but Dave was gone, and I panicked and put on my coat, grabbed an umbrella and ran out to pull it into the neighbor's carport. It felt like getting hit by paintballs and my shoes got soaked because there was so much water in the parking lot. After that I went back inside to watch the storm from the window with Sophie. It lasted about 15 minutes, and then the clouds cleared and the sun came out. Sophie and I went out exploring, because by some miracle, Davey slept through the whole thing!

The storm drains couldn't handle the water and our parking lot became a little lake. It took my shoes a few days to dry out, and we discovered Sophie's boots were not 100% water tight. 

Inspecting the mountain of hail that ran off the roof

More splashing and a better view of the flooded street

These are so cold mommy!

Back to Real Life

We traveled all but two days in July. It was busy, but super fun. Then August arrived and it was back to business. We had just enough time to go grocery shopping and take care of laundry before I went back to work, the kids started at a new babysitter, and Sophie began swimming lessons. Then a couple days later Dave left for Anaheim to attending a huge management conference where he presented a paper he had been working on, and met with a bunch of potential schools who are looking to fill teaching positions next fall.

Not the best photo, but you can see how excited she was about lessons on her first day!

While he was busy interviewing, we held down the fort back home. I found the best strategy for tackling things alone was to be out of the house as much as possible because it meant no mess for me to clean up, and would wear the kids out. Work, church, and swimming lessons kept us busy, but we also spent time at the library, the dinosaur museum, the pool, or just out in the yard. I also made an effort to get everything ready the night before - breakfast and clothes laid out, lunches packed, car loaded - so the mornings would be less chaotic. Nothing can compensate for having Dave around though... Those were six long days and we were so grateful to have him back!

Doing puzzles at the library

We went to McDonald's twice while Dave was gone. I found one with a playplace nearby and it really saved my sanity. 

Exploring the new geometry exhibit at Thanksgiving Point

I tried to take the kids to the grocery store party, but the first time we were too early and they were still setting up the treats and activities so we left. The next time we were too late and everything was cleaned up. Sophie was so bummed because I had really talked it up, but on our way out a bakery lady handed her this bag of cotton candy. You should have seen her face. Thank you for saving our day!

Let it be known that we were on time for 9 am church! After Sacrament meeting we dropped Sophie at nursery and then went to the mother's lounge. We spent the entire 2nd hour rocking/napping. We both needed the break. 

Sophie was thrilled to find a snail outside our door one morning. The poor guy had his eyes poked several times and wisely ran for cover after we went back inside.

This jumper saved my life.  He LOVES  it and can spend 30-40 minutes bouncing, allowing me to get stuff done. It also wears him out :)

Tired momma snuggling my boy

Hanging out in the front yard. I'm glad the weather is finally changing from scorching to tolerably warm. It's been nice to spend time outside again, although Davey clearly doesn't love grass yet.

The Four Month Sleep Regression

Around three months Davey was really sleeping well. He was taking good naps, and was regularly staying down for 7-8 hour stretches at night, waking for only one, sometimes two feedings.  Then in July, just a couple days before he hit the four month mark, things took a turn for the worse and my dream child turned into a monster. He was unable to nap for more than 20 minutes and was waking 4-5 times at night, and every time he woke up it was with a blood curdling scream. He was always tired, which meant he was often grumpy, and yet he just wouldn't sleep. I was getting exhausted and had to resist the impulse to put him in a closet and just let him scream. After two weeks of fighting the beast, I finally asked Google "why is my baby not sleeping anymore?!"

I was surprised to see it is a common problem for this age, and I started to do some research on the "four month sleep regression." I think Sophie just always slept bad, so I never really noticed a "regression," but for him the change was drastic and I needed help. There are a million baby sleep websites out there and I don't take a lot of stock in what they have to say, but most seemed to agree that this is the age when a baby's brain "wakes up." Everything is interesting and distracting - their hands, the noises, the lights, the blankets. Rolling is super fun. Mom is there, and then suddenly she isn't - panic!! Bouncing, rocking, patting and swaying just don't have the same effect. REM cycles begin and they have to make it through that lighter stage before falling into the deep sleep of death every time they go down. It sucks, but it's all part growing up.

Armed with this knowledge. we started making adjustments that very same day. The biggest change was putting him down to sleep awake so he could start learning how to self sooth and fall asleep on his own. We stopped swaddling him, and having his arms free to play with blankets and suck on his fingers actually really helped. And instead of just letting him fall asleep whenever he felt like it, we put him on more or less of a schedule and tried to put him down within an hour of the "schedule" for naps and bed. We started seeing changes almost immediately and after a few weeks I'm happy to report he is doing awesome!!

Bedtime has moved from 10:30 to 7:30 and it's so amazing to have our evenings back. We can also just drop him in his crib for naps and bed, kiss his head, and 90% of the time he will fall asleep within 5 minutes. He is taking three, 1-2 hour naps each day, is no longer waking up terrified, and best of all has turned back into a happy baby now that he's getting the sleep he needs. Our only struggle now is nights. They are much better, but we're still not quite there. Sometimes he'll go eight hours in one stretch, and sometimes he'll be up every two hours like clockwork (it really is impressive how regular it is). I think he's still a little young to start official sleep training, plus he shares a room with Sophie and I'm not ready to ruin her sleep in an attempt to fix his, but I hope the progress we've made now is a good sign for the future. I guess I need to cherish the midnight feedings and snuggles, because I sincerely hope their days are numbered. 

My happy boy! In fact he is often so busy smiling in the morning that he doesn't want to be bothered with eating, which really makes things a bit uncomfortable for me

One a side note, I find it pretty funny that my 4 month old baby, who can't even roll, now fits size 12 month jammies, which have rubber feet because some babies this size can walk (Sophie could) 

10 Years

We celebrated our 10 year anniversary while we were in Texas. Has it really been that long already?! I feel like we really haven't changed that much, and yet I know we have. We in our thirties now. And parents! And almost not students! And right now we're on the edge of an unknown future as Dave starts to apply for teaching positions all across the country. This time next year we really could be living anywhere, and that is the place where we'll start to put down deeper roots and raise our family... After 10 years of a pretty transitory life style, the permanence is exciting, but also a little scary, and I know that there is no one I'd rather do it with than Dave. He is the best husband and father and I'm looking forward to whatever lies in store for us.

Our Engagement Picture

One of my favorite photos from our wedding day

We hardly ever get out on dates, so it was so nice to have Dave's parents and sister offer to watch the kids for us so we could enjoy some time to ourselves. We celebrated conservatively, since we're going on our 7th consecutive year of student life, but had a great time and packed as many dates as possible into one night. We started with the new Star Trek movie, then we had dinner at Outback, followed by glow mini golf, and then a snow cone treat, and finally we ended with the new Jason Bourne movie. So fun!

I won at mini golf!

These tasted as good as they looked

10 Years of Us

- 2 amazing kids -

- 5 beta fish and 1 plant (it died) -

- 8 years of school - 

 - 3 (almost 4) degrees - 

- 7 employers - 

- 5 addresses and wards -

- 3 cars, including 6 years as a 1 car family - 

- About 45 trips & vacations -

- 1,800 loads of laundry - 

-  3,650 dinners - 

-  No major illnesses or injuries! -

Texas Summer 2016

We spent the second half of July visiting friends and family in Texas. We missed Tim and Cindy's family, who had moved to Idaho just a week earlier, but were able to see everyone else a few times during our trip. I was sort of a failure when it came to taking pictures, especially of the kids with their grandparents and when we were together with friends, but know that we had a great time even though it's not going to be documented here. Sophie absolutely loved this trip because we went swimming pretty much every other day while we were there. What else are you supposed to do when it's humid and almost 100 degrees?!

I wish I could say Davey was pleasant on the plane... not taking a binky has really made things difficult. He slept for about 30 minutes and then spent the rest of flight being angry (aka loud). 

Sophie went to gymnastics with her cousin Emma the first full day we were there. She LOVED it! We are still hearing about walking like a bear and when she got in trouble for climbing up the slide. She also thought it was neat that no mommies came to watch them - it was just kids!

We enjoyed a lazy morning while Sophie had fun at gymnastics - double win!

We did a lot of evening swims when the pool was shaded and we didn't need to worry about sun screen. The kids both loved cruising around on grandma's rafts. 

Grandma also had this mask and it transformed Sophie into a little fish. She instantly lost all fear of going underwater and spent the night diving in to look for things on the bottom of the kiddie pool. 

On Friday we went downtown with Dave's mom and Liz to the Perot museum and then out to lunch. We got free admission thanks to my Thanksgiving Point membership. Sophie and I enjoyed the exhibits, while Dave hunted for Pokemon :)

On Saturday we had a pool party with friends. There are 10 kids between us now and it was pretty crazy! There has been another round of babies and it was fun to see everyone's new addition. We failed to get a picture of all the kids, but here is Davey on his first date with Jada, who is just one month younger. 

More swimming! This time we went over to Greg's house for dinner and then went to the pool afterward.

Dave had some rough nights while we were there, but always woke up happy

On Monday we went to see Secret Life of Pets. Sophie saw one commercial for it where a wiener dog uses a kitchen mixer to massage his back, thought it was the funnies thing ever, and decided in that moment she wanted to see the movie. It was fun to see her excited face when we saw that part in the theater. She was also thrilled to have a whole bucket of popcorn to herself!

Davey got lots of cuddles from Aunt Liz. She had the magic touch with him and could always calm the beast for nap. 

Swimming again!

On Wednesday Dave went to a Rangers game with his dad, brother, and nephew Jack. They sat on the first row and it sounded incredible. This is the picture of all the food they bought BEFORE realizing their seats came with an all-you-can-eat prime rib buffet. Hah!

Sophie has always loved puzzles, but really hit her stride while we were in Texas. She is a master (like her momma) and can now do 24 piece puzzles without help. 

Loving bath time

Playing some Wii

Nap time with daddy

 This is Sophie's kids meal - everything's bigger in Texas!

Clearly he didn't think "pants on your head" was a funny as we did

Sophie and Davey in their matching church outfits made by grandma, from one of grandpa's old shirts. I really wished they could have been sitting with grandpa for this picture, but he was speaking on Sunday and had already left for church. They sure looked cute!

On the way home... Adding another kid has made trips more difficult, but Sophie really is an amazing traveler. We just plug her in, give her snacks and don't have to worry about anything other than the baby until we land.