Why am I so lucky?

{Going to Meet the Teacher Day}

This boy makes me incredibly happy! I don't know why I got to be the lucky one who was chosen to be his mom. I get to spend a great deal of time with him and the things he does and says are priceless!
The other week we were headed to my sisters house, which is about 40 minutes away. Kevin was home so the whole family was in the car. Jackson loves to sit in the middle of the backseat to be by Mya. Partway into the ride Mya started to fuss (common in the car) I reached into the diaper bag to find something to give her and I found two little containers with her treats in them- one had puffs and the other had yogurt drops. I handed them to Jackson and commented to Kevin how glad I am that he thought to pack those.... Kevin said "I didn't put those in there" just then from the backseat Jackson said "I did mom! I got those for Mya so she wouldn't be sad."
I was so proud of him! He had thought of Mya and knew that she doesn't like the car and thought ahead. He didn't pack a snack for himself even though the snack bin is right next to her snacks on the shelf, he only thought of making her happy. Thinking about my little four year old getting the bowls, filling them up, snapping on the lids and putting them in the diaper bag all by himself brought tears to my eyes.

This morning as I drove him to preschool He was talking to me about what he will do after high school, and I said he will go to college, and he asked what he will do after college, and I said that he will then find a job. He asked what he will do for a job and I told him he can do anything he wants, like be a doctor or fly airplanes. He then said "OK, but first I will be a Missionary and I will go on a mission to the ocean and teach all the sea animals. I'll teach all the mean ones how to be nice and not eat the fishes." While this struck me as cute and funny, I also was so impressed with him to talk about wanting to be a missionary! Love him :)

These are just two instances in the past few weeks... I really love the little man he is turning into and am so proud of him.

Beginnings and Endings....

A Beginning.....

 Today was Jackson's first day of Pre-School. I don't know who was more excited me or him. A year ago I kind of dreaded him going to preschool because I thought I would be so sad and lonely... Miss Mya sure fixed that fear! I am never lonely now... Anyway, I was ready for Jackson to go now. He was so excited last night as I was tucking him in to bed. I admit it, I was pretty excited too. We woke up at about 8 this morning and has cereal together then got ready. Mya woke up at about 9. We headed out the door by about 9:25 and arrived right on time at Miss. Karli's house at 9:30.
We had met Miss. Karli yesterday so we knew where to go and what to do. He has his own Cubby with a pencil box with glue, crayons, and a pencil in it.
When I dropped him off today I stayed for just a minute and when I went to leave I couldn't even get him to look at me long enough to wave goodbye to him! I thought for sure that would break my heart, but it was just the opposite, I felt so happy for him! I knew he was ready, I knew he would love it, so how could that make me feel sad? At pick up time he went on and on about how great his day was and all the things they did and all about his new friend "who wore the bright blue shirt." I love hearing about all the things he thought were important from his day... It does make me sad to think from now on the time where I had him completely to myself is gone. I had a long time with just me and him, it will never be like that again. He is such a great kid. He is kind, and loving, and is sensitive to others. I guess it's time to share my sweet little boy with others :)

 Headed out the door! He was "pretending to walk to preschool" he told me.

A Ending.....

When I was a new mom one of the hardest things I did was breastfeeding. I struggled with it for four full months, every feeding. When Jackson was four months Kevin got cancer so I had to stop, the stress pushed me over the edge. This time around with Mya I was determined to nurse her till a year. At her last well child visit her weight took a drop and The doctor discussed with us the fact that it might be that she isn't getting enough milk. He was very kind about it and didn't even mention stopping nursing to me, but it made me keep better track of her eating habits. I was nursing her 6-7 times in a 24 hour period ( a lot) but when I was gone one night past bedtime Kevin gave Mya a bottle of frozen breastmilk and she drank quite a bit. Since I missed a feeding I decided to pump, by the end I only had about 2 ounces from both sides combined. I looked up online how much she was supposed to be getting and it was WAY short. After lots of tears I decided to stop nursing and switch to formula. I had tried many times in the past to up my supply with herbs and teas and stuff and it never really helped a lot so I decided formula was just a better choice.
Mya hated it. She didn't mind the bottle but she just refused the formula most of the time. After a few frustrating days I decided to google "what is the best tasting baby formula' I found a blog post from some dad who had done a taste test of a bunch of formula brands. His reactions were funny and very candid- his result was Similac is by far the best tasting, it is sweeter and creamier. So last night I went straight to the store and bought a can. The result? SHE LOVED IT! Has downed every bottle we have given her totally fine!
I finally stopped feeling so guilty today about stopping nursing when I was feeding her a bottle and I realized I tried my hardest and that this is ok... She is happier and this is good for her!

Today ended up being a great day! While Jackson was at preschool Mya took a nap and I had a wonderful 2 hours all to myself... Pure Bliss!

Mya 7 months

Mya's Stats 7 1/2 months old:

Weight: 14 lbs 4 oz 4%

Height: 26.5 inches 42%

Head: 16.3 inches 7%

So apparently I have Mya on a supermodel diet.... not trying to starve the girl, I promise- I feed her solids about four times a day and nurse her still. The doctor wants to make sure she is gaining ok so for the next few months I need to take her in and have her weight checked. She is well above expectations developmentally so I'm not too concerned. I'd love to have those weight stats!

We took these pictures before church the other week, she was so happy and looked so cute in her little ducky dress.

Oh my goodness, this little girl has all of us wrapped around her tiny finger. She is such a beautiful, happy, smiley, cute, active little thing.

I love that huge gummy grin. She did have a tooth popping through and it went back down so I have her sweet toothless smile to enjoy for a while longer I guess.

The little stinker went through a phase where she would take her bows out instantly... drove me NUTS! She is doing somewhat better this week though.

Putting the bows straight into her mouth... little stinker.

Eating- She is a great eater. She has only turned away one food- any of the meat baby food. I can't blame her one bit though, I opened a jar the other day to put one scoop in her sweet potatoes and oatmeal and the smell sent me into the dry heaves.... I won't even give it to her now. Too nasty. We have let her have a few tastes of ice cream, mashed potatoes, let her suck on a cut orange, and gave her some baby yogurt.

Sleeping: Total Crap.... I can't stand to let her cry. I have a few times and she quiets down fairly fast but during the night when Jackson is in bed in the same room as her I don't let her cry at all. I just go in and be her human pacifier until she falls asleep. Last night was so bad. She was up like every hour from midnight to 7 a.m. so I just didn't sleep at all. Plus right now I have the worst stomach flu I've had in years. So tonight we are moving Jackson into our room on the floor for a week and are going to be working on her sleeping through the night.

Mya loves baths, loves to scoot and army crawl all over. She loves to crawl into the bottom of the exersaucer, its like her own little fort. She loves shoes, she will see a shoe laying on the round and scoots as fast as she can to get to it. She is fast and wiggly. She rolls all over, can sit up by her self from a laying position. She recently started doing what I call the "wrinkle nose." She smiles huge so her eyes disappear and wrinkles her nose up then snorts through her little nose. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Love her!

Our Puppy

Our little puppy. He is the perfect pet.

Jackson is such a good kid. He is obedient 95% of the time and LOVES Mya so much. He takes such great care of her and is so sweet to her. Today he walked into the kitchen singing a song to her about how cute she is and how sorry he is she didn't win the baby contest but good luck next year. It was so cute, I wish I had it recorded.

Today we spent the afternoon playing card games. I love it that he is old enough to do this. It is so cute to see him draw a card and get a big grin on his face because it is a card he wanted, but then trying to hide the smile from me so I wouldn't know.

He is so sweet and sensitive to everyone's feelings. He is so mindful of others and makes me so proud. I love him so much and am so grateful to have him in my home.

MVHS 10 year reunion

Crap.... I hate it that we are getting older. Can't we just stop time for a bit?

We attended Kevin's Highschool reunion the other week at the Govenor's Mansion in Salt Lake City. I loved the Govenor's Mansion part- the rest? ummmm..... well, it was ok.

We had a nice time but Kevin was a little disappointed at the end of the night. He said it was more awkward than fun.... Oh well.

Our third wheel.

Got ya mom!

Look at that huge smile! I can not help myself but to just completely melt when I see this girl smile at me....

Today I caught her in action with the camera. She crawled through the bottom of the exersaucer.

She uses her left arm to scoot and kicks her little legs. She has gotten pretty fast actually.

It still totally catches me off guard when I hear her right behind me when I just saw her in the other room... or when I feel a tiny hand grab my ankle from behind. I still can't believe my baby is growing up so quickly. It excites me and breaks my heart at the same moment.

Trouble Maker....

I LOVE this series of pictures... Now that Mya is a little busy body she is getting herself into all sorts of trouble. She wanted Jackson's GeoTrax bin so so bad and wouldn't stop until she got it. It cracks me up to see her suddenly see me and light up and give me that huge cheesy grin. She eventually fell over and just laid in the mess she created.... little stinker.

And we're off!

Mya is a Movin'!!! This little stinker is six and a half months old and has decided to hit some milestones this week.

She is cutting her first tooth this week. I can see it and feel it but as of yesterday it hadn't broken the skin yet- but it is very close. When Jackson was a baby I never really noticed when he was teething, I would just notice a new tooth in his mouth. Mya on the other hand has had a runny nose, fever, and has been super fussy all week. She wasn't sleeping at nights and we were getting up for a playdate from about 12:30 am to around 2:15 am for a few nights. I am so sad to lose her adorable toothless grin. I love it when she gives me this huge gummy smile! (as pictured above)

The other milestone she hit this week was crawling around... She hasn't gotten the whole hand and knees coordination of crawling yet but that doesn't slow her down. She gets up in crawling position, rocks back and forth, and then just lunges forward head first. Then depending on where she wants to go she will pivot on her tummy or on her side and roll or scoot along with her arms and legs on her belly to get what she wants. It is totally taking me off guard when I leave her somewhere only to come back and find her across the room...

I need to baby proof some areas in a hurry, any day now she'll catch on to the traditional crawling methods I'm sure.

Mya 6 months

6 Months Stats

Height TBA

Weight TBA

Where does the time go? It seems to speed past me and leaves me wondering what happened to the last month. It seems like yesterday I was singing in the Christmas program at church feeling Mya kick and squirm in my belly. I remember thinking that day that the next 24 hours would be crazy because the next morning I was having my c-section. Now here is it 6 MONTHS later!
I am so sad at how big she is getting and how she is starting to do grown up things.

Jackson is the BEST big brother. He loves this little girl more than I ever thought he would. He is so happy to see her when he wakes up and gives her big hugs and kisses. He will play with her, shares every toy with her without being asked and is still one of the only one's to get her to laugh.

She sit's up by herself and is super stable. Her hair is long enough for a clip in it.

Such a big smiler... She loves her family and strangers and greets everyone with a big toothless smile.

She loves to go for walks in her stroller and instantly slouches and kicks her little legs up and rests her feet on the tray.

Little lounger...

Sleeping is still a bit rough. I still get up with her at night anywhere from twice to four or five times a night. I keep thinking "ok this is the week. I am going to let her cry it out" and every week I come up with an excuse why it isn't a good week to try. Some days I feel like a zombie, I am so tired. She now prefers her tummy or side to sleep on and loves a packie in her mouth and one in her hand.

Napping is somewhat on a schedule. The length of time she sleeps is a bit erratic and some days she has two naps and some it is four naps... Usually she has three naps that range in length.

I am still nursing her and she is doing great on solids. She has even developed a taste for some of our food. She likes pieces of bread, loves to suck the juice from oranges and cantaloupe and tried some of my popsicle.
She is the most beautiful baby and people tell me everywhere I go how beautiful and cute she is. I love dressing her up in all her cute outfits and am having fun making her bows and accessories. Lately she has started to pull her hair bows out... NOT COOL. We will need to fix that.

We love Mya so much... Although it is breaking my heart that she is growing up it is fun to see her move into new stages.

Mya Baby Announcement

I just realized that I never posted this! This is our sweet baby girls birth announcement. My friend Kelli made this for me, she is so talented and incredible. I loved it. We are still thrilled to have this little one in our family... but if she doesn't start letting me get some sleep I might change my mind.... ok, probably not- I'm pretty tightly wrapped around her little finger.

Sunday Dinner

We like to go to Sunday dinner either at my parents house or Kevin's parents house. It is fun for me to visit with them and laugh. I love to see my kids with their grandparents. This Sunday we went to my parents house.

This is my grandpa. He is 85 and loves Miss Mya. I have never seen him ASK to hold someones baby, we usually just put a baby on his lap but from day one he has wanted to hold her and enjoys her, which I love! When I was like 37 or 38 weeks pregnant he even asked to feel the baby kick- which SHOCKED me, he sat there next to me on the couch and felt my tummy for like 5 minutes! It was pretty special. He must be becoming a softie in his old age.

Maddy needed her picture taken too... She still thinks she is the baby and hates to share attention.

Mya and my mom, whom she is named after, Dianne. I love how they are looking at each other with the same facial expression!

Sometimes I really wish we could move out of Utah, just for the experience, but then I know I would really miss family, especially on Sunday nights.

Went to the grocery store...

Went to the grocery store and found a camel hanging out! Primary Childrens Hospital was having a fundraiser on Saturday in the Smiths parking lot so Jackson got to sit on a camel and have his picture taken.

Kind of a funny thing to do. It was something I have never done but Jackson has now!

We also donated a few dollars and rode a pony. It was so cold and rainy so we only spent a few minutes but it was a fun little experience.