Friday, December 28, 2012

Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas from Ryan, Connie and Briella!
 

What a fun Christmas! Somehow having a baby makes it that much more exciting, even though Briella is only 9 months old and doesn't really get it yet. She had a lot of fun playing with the wrapping paper. Ha ha! Oh, and the new toys once we threw the paper away.

We celebrated with Ryan's family on Christmas Eve at his sister's house. Then had our own little family thing on Christmas morning. I baked some ham from the night before and baked some eggs, too. (I was hoping to make baked french toast, but that just didn't happen...maybe next year.) We ate breakfast, read the last day of the Jesse Tree and then opened presents. After all that fun, we quickly got ready and headed out to Salt Lake to spend the rest of Christmas day with my family, including my aunt, uncle, cousins and cousins' kids. All in all it was a wonderful Christmas!


First look at the gifts under the tree.

Daddy bought Briella a rocket!

Daddy showing B her new balls.

Tissue paper! :)

Multi-tasking...holding a ball and trying to open another present.

"I love my new car!" (The look on her face just cracks me up!)
 
Happy girl.

Playing with a small piece of wrapping paper she found. Ha.

In her new hat from Grandma!


Playing with an ornament from Grandpa and Grandma's tree.

Just a funny pic of daddy and B. :)

"Hi, Briella..." "Hi, Ciara..."


Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year to come!

Thursday, December 27, 2012

9 Months Old!

Another month has flown by and Briella is growing and changing so much with each passing day!

Briella, you are such a joy to daddy and me! We can't believe you are already 9 months old! Your ninth month was full of so much fun in new experiences, as well as, in watching you change and discover more about the world around you. It seems like this month, we could see the changes so much between the beginning of the month and the end.

Life in General
The month started off with a trip to Florida! What an experience it was to travel with you! Overall, you did wonderfully through it all. Both the plane ride there and back were relatively easy even being 4+ hour flights. You even slept for a good portion of the flight home (it helped that we had the entire row for that flight...your own seat!). All the different places we went and things we saw and did, you were such a trooper and enjoyed it all, even without many naps. Although, you did fall asleep in daddy's arms at the Space Center towards the end of the day. You could just no longer stay awake. Mostly, as long as you were fed, you stayed pretty happy. I think your favorite place was Sea World. In the near future I am going to write a whole post on our trip with more details.

You moved into 6-9 month clothing and also up to size 3 diapers.

At the beginning of the month you started lifting your cute little bum off the ground. It was quite cute! Then by the end of the month, you were getting onto your hands and knees.

As well, this month you went from just learning to scoot in circles to move around to becoming an expert scooter. Scooting backwards is also another favorite way to get around, especially when you find your way to the hard wood floor. So, now between rolling and scooting you get around quite well. A picture of exciting things to come!

Finally, you have replaced "dadada" with "mamama." Ha ha. :) I don't think you know what you are saying, but it is fun that you now say "mamama" (even if it is mostly when you are whiney). A lot of other sounds have made their way into your jabbering, including multiple syllable sounds.

Your ability to see small things on the floor and focus in on them is astonishing. Dog hair, carpet fibers, etc. catch your eye and you can pick up individual dog hairs quite well.

The dogs and the cat thrill you every time you see them, especially the cat. Whenever one of them walks into the room, you get a big grin and get all excited. We help you pet them instead of pulling their hair, which is your preferred method of interacting with them. And when one of the dogs licks you, you think it's great and usually giggle.

Pulling or playing with momma's hair can keep you quite entertained. You seem delighted by it. I have to constantly teach you not to pull too hard. When my hair is down, if I lean over you while you are laying on the floor and shake my hair, you get a kick out of it.

You have learned how to blow. A few months ago you learned how to blow spit bubbles, but now you like to blow just air. Maybe you are practicing for your birthday cake. :)

New foods this month included pumpkin, apricots, raspberries, blueberries, chicken, bananas and Greek yogurt. The only thing that you didn't like was the bananas. I know, weird. Maybe you get that from your momma. I don't really like bananas either. :)

Daddy and I started teaching you signs this month. We've started with "all done," "more," "milk," and "eat." Yep, they all have to do with food. We figured that was a good place to start. You seem to enjoy watching us sign the words to you. It will be fun once you catch on and start to sign back to us.

You love clapping. This is something that you just picked up on your own. We weren't intentionally teaching it to you, but you clap when you hear music and sometimes out of excitement. And this is the first action you have learned to do on command. If we tell you to clap, then you (usually) clap for us. It also works when we say "yay." I think this is because every time we praise you for accomplishing something we say yay and clap. What a fun milestone this is! I am incredibly amazed watching you learn!

And one last thing, actually from last month. We moved you from your infant tub to a cute little inflatable duck tub that you can sit up in. Bathtime is so much more fun! You can play with your toys and splash around. I think you could play in the tub for a long time if the water didn't get cold.

Firsts
  • Plane ride. And it was a long one! Go big or don't go at all I guess. Ha ha!
  • First steps (with help). Daddy taught you to take steps and you caught on so quickly. I think it's just a matter of getting stronger because you have the concept down.
  • Thanksgiving
  • Get on hands and knees by yourself. You were in your crib after you woke from a nap and there you were on your hands and knees.
  • Snort. It's so cute, you snort every now and then.
Pictures from Month 9
 
Waiting at the airport for our flight to Orlando!
 
Sitting on the balcony of the hotel with dad watching the waves.

Ready to head to the beach!
 
Feet in the waves!


 
Sleeping on the plane. :)
 
With dad on the plane. (I cannot get this picture to flip...)
 
Stylin' in my sunglasses

 
Fell asleep with dad.
 
Go Broncos!
 
So Sleepy.
 
Bath time!
 
Sitting in front of the Christmas tree.
 
9 months old!
 


Monday, December 10, 2012

December 10 Edition of Being Thankful

Today, I am thankful...
  • for receiving Christmas cards in the mail. I think we should send each other real mail all year long!
  • that I finally got our Christmas tree finished last night.
  • for a working furnace for these cold winter nights.
  • for the opportunity to specifically pray for Ryan today as he had to do something new and difficult at work today. He made it through it just fine and with a good attitude. :)
  • that it's close to bedtime. I'm tired. :) Good night, everyone!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Confessions

Just for fun. :)
  1. Most days I wear sweat pants and a t-shirt or sweatshirt (depending on the weather) ALL DAY.
  2. Also, most days I pull my hair up in a ponytail (good thing I grew my hair out, huh?) and don't wear a stitch of make-up. Clothes, hair and make-up just aren't worth the effort sometimes.
  3. If there are chocolate chips in the house, I eat them by the handful. What's made it worse is that a higher quality chocolate chip was on sale one day for the cheaper than the store brand ones that I normally buy. They are SO MUCH better. Too hard to resist! Oh, and now, I will buy that brand even though they are more than double the cost of the store brand. If you can't splurge a little on chocolate, then what can you splurge on? :)
  4. I secretly think that it is wrong that some women shrink down to their pre-pregnancy weight/size without much effort or in some cases no effort at all! It should take at least a good few months before any woman should be able to fit into her pre-pregnancy clothes. Although, I guess after reading point #3 above, I shouldn't complain that the weight just hasn't "fallen" off. Ha!
  5. I should be doing something else besides writing this post (you know, like cleaning or finishing Christmas cards or decorating the tree or Bible Study or eating chocolate chips....)
  6. My two LEAST favorite things to do are 1) laundry and 2) dishes. Unfortunately, those are two things that seem to never end. And we only have 3 people in our little family. I can't even imagine how those of you with more than that even manage. I think I'd buy paper plates and plastic utensils and cups for every meal. Not very green of me, I know. Not sure how I'd solve the laundry problem.
  7. I want a maid.
  8. I have a strong desire for organization and routine, but I rarely follow through. Maybe I just like the planning process and not the implementation process.
  9. I, therefore, must need a personal assistant.
  10. I just went and had a handful of chocolate chips...

Happy Friday, everyone! Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

December 6 Edition of Being Thankful

Today, I am thankful...
  • that Ryan helped me with the Christmas tree last night!!! :) This was exciting for me because Ryan doesn't really get the whole Christmas tree thing and so I've always just done it. Last night, as I was putting it together, he just started helping and then he helped with the lights, too. I loved it!
  • that it's beginning to look like Christmas in our house.
  • for the local produce man who stopped by our house today and sold me some homemade salsas, jams, apple butter, applesauce, relish, etc. I'm looking forward to trying it all.
  • for the beautiful sunshine shining in the window and warming up the living room.
  • that the Christmas cards I ordered arrived and they turned out great. I've never sent Christmas cards out before, so this will be fun. :) 
  • for the chance to watch "Elf" this morning. One of my all time favorite movies!
  • for Christmas music. The David Crowder Band Christmas CD is a new favorite.
  • for these two wonderful people:


Sunday, December 2, 2012

December 2 Edition of Being Thankful

Today, I am thankful...
  • for a husband who loves his baby girl beyond words and helps take care of her (in fact, LIKES to take care of her...I don't even have to ask for help most of the time)!
  • for the wonderful sounds of laughter between daddy and daughter. Warms my heart!
  • for how Ryan wants to spend all his time with her when he is home. It's good for him and her (and me, so I can have a chance to do other things and have a little break).
  • that Ryan cooked breakfast this morning while I was getting ready for church. Oftentimes, between getting myself ready and getting Briella ready, I don't have time to eat before church. And he fed Briella her breakfast, too.
I guess today I am just thankful for my wonderful husband! Love you, Ryan!