4 months & Father’s Day

On Saturday, June 16th, little Gwennie Bear turned 4 months old.  I seriously do not know where the time has gone.  It feels like she was just born, and also like she’s always been with us.  She is so cute and so fun to have in our family.At 4 months, little G loves to:
Smile
Talk
Kick her legs
Get kisses
Play with her gym and grab the toys…especially the monkey
Put EVERYTHING she gets in her hands into her mouth
Suck on her fists
Snuggle…especially with her dad
And, she still loves her swing and bouncy chair.
She is starting to warm up to the bumbo.  She likes to sit in it for a few minutes while I’m doing the dishes, or making dinner, but she won’t sit in there for very long.
She is so close to rolling over.  She gets half way and then gets stuck.  She can’t quite figure out how to get her arm out of the way so she can finish the task, but I think in a couple days, she will have it down.
Just today she started transitioning from her fists to just her thumb, and it’s practically the cutest thing ever.
It is amazing how fast she is growing and developing.  Just a few months ago, she couldn’t even hold her head up on her own, and now she’s almost rolling, and interacting with us.  It is really amazing.
We had a really nice Father’s Day.  We were able to spend it together, and with both of our dads.  I am so grateful for my dad.  He was always a voice of reason.  Growing up, he was always calm, and rarely lost his temper.  I remember quite a few conversations we had where he helped me through a struggle just by his spirit and a few words.  I am so grateful that I have a righteous dad who respected me, and taught me to respect myself.  I am so glad that Dan is the father of my child, and that he loves her and respects her.  I am so excited to see what he teaches her.  She is one lucky girl.
“Gwen” wrote Dan a poem for Father’s day, and I’m really proud of it…so I’m going to share it.

I miss you when we’re not together,

my hands want yours to clasp;

these tiny little hands of mine

are getting bigger, fast.

So I want you to remember

in the years so sure ahead

how my hands grasped yours

and held on tight each night you put me to bed.

Look at the handprint

when you're sad that I’ll get tall,

and memories will come back of me

when I was very small.

This is the hand

you’ll always hold,

but this is what it looked like

when I was only 4 months old.

Then there was a little blue paint handprint at the bottom.

Well, that’s about it.  Is anyone out there reading this?  I haven’t been seeing too many comments, which is fine since this is my journal, but I’m just curious.  Hope ya’ll had a good Father’s Day.  Until next time…adios

Just to see you smile…

I’d do just about anything to see this little one smile.  I finally figured out a way to capture her smiles.  I just can’t be behind the camera, so some of the pictures aren’t perfect, but they capture her sweet little smile.  I love how when she smiles big her eyes get all squinty.  It is so cute.  Plus, because her cheeks are so chubby, she can’t quite get the corners up, so it still looks a little like a frown, but it is so cute, and I absolutely LOVE it.This has got to be one of my very favorite pictures of this little sweetie. 
I just cannot get enough of her.

Summer…so far~

Well, I have to admit, it hasn’t really felt like summer to me.  Usually by now the heat is intense, but not this year.  We’ve had some pretty cool days, which is really nice for my AC bill, but not so nice for my tan.  I have been looking forward to summer this year because I have been wanting to take Gwennie swimming.  She loves the water, but it has just been too cold for her, so we’ve only been able to go a couple times.  But, summer has been fun so far.  Let me fill you in on the haps. 

Dan has been wanting to take me rock climbing for quite a while now, but I wasn’t comfortable going when I was prego (go figure…I wasn’t comfortable period) and now that I am not, he has been asking nearly every weekend if we can go, and finally, on Memorial Day we were able to.  My mom watched G-bear for us and we headed down to rock canyon in Provo.  I have to admit, I was pretty nervous.  Becoming a mom has really dampened my adventurous side.  But I conqured my fears, thanks for much coaxing from Dan and we had a great time!  We brought our camera, but then realized we forgot the memory card, so these 2 photos from my Dan’s phone are the only ones we have.  I tried to get one of Dan, but he was so speedy, he zipped down the mountain before I could even whip out my phone.  Silly guy.
Later on that day, we headed over to Dan’s bro’s Tom’s house for a picnic.  It was so much fun to be with family enjoying the warm weather.  We had steak.  Y.U.M.
We have recently discovered the trail head for the Jordan River trail right near our house, so we have been enjoying many evening walks along the trail.  It has been so much fun to get out of the house and enjoy the outdoors.  Gwen loves the sun, but hates it when it shines in her eyes, so we gave her Dan’s sunglasses, and she loved them so much we decided she needed a pair of her own.  They look so cute on her, sometimes I want to take her for a walk just so I can put them on her. :)
Wearing Dan’s glasses:
And wearing her own glasses:
She has been getting such a fun little personality lately.  She will just smile and talk and try to get your attention anyway she can.  She loves to pretend to cry, and then as soon as you look at her, she will give you a big grin.  It’s so fun to watch her develop and grow.  I love watching her learn how to get what she wants.  Someday I probably will not feel the same way, but right now, it’s just so amazing to watch her learn to communicate.
Did I mention that she absolutely LOVES her hands?  She is always munching on them, and if she gets something in her hands, it immediately goes to her mouth.  Her favorite?  The washcloth in the bathtub.  She loves to suck out all the water.  Gross I know.  I try to catch her before she gets too much, but it’s pretty hilarious so sometimes I let her get away with it.

We’ve been able to go to the pool once, and 7 peaks once.  She loves the sun, but the water is still a little chilly, so it takes her a minute to get used to it.  I am excited for when it gets a little warmer outside, then maybe it won’t be quite as bad.  I love when she wears a swim suit.  It totally accentuates all her chub.
Well, so far, this has been our summer.  We are just happy to have some extra daylight.  It makes me feel like we have extra time together.  In just a couple weeks, we are headed to NYC for a little summer vaca.  We are taking G-bear with us, so that should be an adventure.  My sister is living there for the summer, and we are so excited to spend some time with her and her kiddos.  Plus, it will be nice to get out of town for a while.  Having a baby really threw off our vacation schedule, but we are back on track and are so excited to have an adventure.  Neither of us have been to New York, except me, on a layover…but we only had a few hours, so it doesn’t really count.  We are excited to see what the Big Apple has to offer.  Well, that’s about it.  Leave me some comments if you have suggestions for things we MUST do in NYC.  I don’t want to miss anything.  Peace out.

Blessing Photo Shoot

I know, I know, I’m a little ridiculous with the photo shoots, but I really wanted to get one done with the little bear in her blessing dress.  So I did. :)  We got these done about a month ago.  I was really hoping we could get some of her smiling, but alas, we couldn’t.  She is such a stinker in front of the camera.  She will be just grinning away, and when I pull out the camera to capture it, she won’t do it.  The photos still turned out great, and I am really happy with them.  She is such a sweetheart and looked so beautiful in her first white dress.

3 Months

Today is Gwen’s 3 month birthday.  She is getting so big so fast, and sometimes I really miss her newborn days and want her to be tiny, and some days I get really excited for her to be able to crawl, and talk, and walk.  Mostly, though, I just love her, and want her to stay little.
At 3 months she loves to:
*Swing in her swing
*Bounce in her bouncy chair
*Eat her hands
*Be held facing out so she can see everything
*Take baths
*She’s just starting to reach for toys and it’s so fun to watch her mind working
*Stand up
*Read stories with bright, fun pictures
*Smile.  She has been such a smiley girl, except, of course, when I want to take a picture of her doing it.  Then she won't, but as soon as I put the camera down, she’s all grins.  Little stinker.
*She does NOT love her bumbo….yet.
She is such a sweetheart and I am so glad she’s mine forever.  I just love her so much!
On another note, it’s been so nice outside lately.  We’ve been taking Gwen out to the back yard to lay on a blanket and play with toys.  She loves being outside.  She just smiles and kicks and tries to talk.
For Dan’s birthday, before Gwen was born I got him a little onsie “from her” that said I love my dad.  Well she’s finally big enough to wear it, and so I had to get some photos of them together with her in it.  I love the one where she is just staring at him.  She loves him so much.  Any time she hears his voice she turns her head to try and find him, and he is always making her smile.  Sometimes it’s not fair.
And here are a few more photos of her being cute, and Dan holding Gwen and Chloe.  Sometimes Chloe gets jealous of Gwen and she wedges her way in, forcing us to give her attention.  It’s pretty funny.  We still love you Chloe!
Don’t you just want to munch on those cheeks?  They are just so chubby, and I love them!  She is getting such a fun, cute personality, and I love watching it develop and start showing.  It’s so amazing to watch her learn and grow.  She changes so fast, and I feel like if I blink I’ll miss something.  She is just a cutie, and we are loving getting to know her.

Mother’s Day

I was so excited to be able to celebrate Mother’s Day this year.  It’s been such a fun/hard/crazy/emotional adjustment, but I really do love being a mom.  I am also grateful for my mom, who’s always been there for me and who I know is willing to do just about everything for me.  In fact, until about a year ago, she’d call and make doctors appointments for me, and still offers to this day.  That’s what I love about her.  She doesn’t forget the small things.  I hope to be a mom who loves and fights for her kids like my mom does.  Also, she’s an awesome grandma.  I never really had grandparents growing up, and it always devastated me.  My mom’s dad and my dad’s dad died before I was born, and my mom’s mom died when I was only 4.  My dad’s mom died just a couple years ago, but she lived kind of far away for most of my life so we didn’t get to see her that often, and I was at the tail end of the grandkids, so I didn’t get to spend as much time playing with her as my older sibling did.  However, we had a very special bond, and when I got older I had a great relationship with my grandma.  But, the point is that my mom is young, and she plays with the kids, and does special things for them, so it’s so fun for me to watch that relationship that I never really had as a child, but always wanted so badly. 
I got really sick on Saturday night with a bad cold.  So I was kind of out of commission for Mother’s day.  So, Dan took Gwen to church and let me sleep.  Then when he came home we went to dinner at my parents house, and then went to his parent’s house for dessert.  We headed home rather early because I just wasn’t feeling well.  Luckily it has been pretty short, and I’m starting to feel better now, but it hasn’t been fun.  And, as a result, these are the only photos I got on Mother’s Day.  I’m just glad I remembered to take any photos at all!

Weekend away

This last weekend, we went to the Homestead for Dan’s moms 60th birthday!!  We still aren’t too comfortable leaving little Gwennie, (even though she is sleeping through the night 8pm-8am, and has been for about a month now) so we brought her along with us, and she was a trooper!  She was an angel, as always.  She loved getting all the attention from aunts and uncles, and loved being the only grandchild allowed to come.  She also had her first swim.  Her suit is still a little big, but it’s ok.  We couldn’t find swim diapers yet, so her regular diaper swelled up and filled in the empty spaces. :) She looked like she had a little bug butt.
Whenever Dan’s whole family gets together, they love to be together, so despite the tiny hot tub, clearly not big enough to fit them all, they squeezed in, made the water overflow out of the hot tub, and it’s pretty possible that some people were feeling a little bit uncomfortable with the closeness.  They also always have to have some sort of contest.  One to see who can swim the longest, hold their breath the longest, go the deepest, and win a chicken war.  It’s pretty comical, especially with all the wives lined up cheering for their man.  We are quite a sight when we go out in public.  Oh, and Gwen LOVED the water.  She just kicked and kicked and smiled and had a great time.  I can’t wait to take her swimming this summer.
The next day we woke up, ate breakfast together and had a little photo op of all the kids, and all the kids and wives.  It’s a pretty big posterity. (and that’s not even including the 22 grandkids)

Then we headed on home.  It was a quick trip, but fun to be with family and celebrate 60 years.  My mom and dad watched Chloe while we were gone, so we had to go pick her up, and while we were there, we figured we’d stop for a little nap since little Gwen is such a snuggle bug.  Dan slept with her for the first half and I slept with her (and apparently Chloe) for the 2nd.  Neither of us knew the other had taken photos…how funny! 
We are just trying to get all the snuggles out of her that we can while she’s still willing to give them.  She is such a snuggler right now, and I am loving it.  Sometimes I just forget about everything I’m supposed to do during the day and snuggle her all day long.  I figure, you only have 1 kid tiny once, so why not enjoy it while I can?