Temple Square Lights

This evening we went to Temple Square to see the lights. Last year at this time I was about 6 months pregnant with our little bug and Taylor and I took tracks down and were there for the lighting. We had arrived just on time. It had snowed and we were having to be extra careful not to slip. This year since we were up in Paradise we missed it, but made it a Sunday activity. We all bundled up and enjoyed walking around. It really is so spectacular.  The church really does such an amazing job. The lights are incredible and they have nativity scenes from several countries displayed.

Just Because

Here is a sweet picture of our little lady all ready for church today.

Thanksgiving 2011

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Paradise with Grandma, Papa and my dad. We picked my dad up from the airport Wednesday evening and headed up to Paradise. We were up there until Saturday night. It was a long, but nice visit. Grandma always cooks a very traditional Thanksgiving dinner- Turkey, homemade mashed potatoes, squash, peas, turnip, stuffing, cranberry, rolls, apple pie, and pumpkin pie... It was all so delicious. Sage even tried some of the soft veggies for her first Thanksgiving. We mostly relaxed and just visited. Grandma made a yummy brunch and invited Jeanne and Tony over on Friday morning. We went shopping Friday afternoon with Jeanne, but did not really find any deals we were interested in.We went over and spent an evening with her and Tony once we put Sage down to bed at Grandma and Papa's. We enjoyed spending time with everyone. We ate way too much good food, relaxed and had a good time. Grandma made Sage the most darling crocheted hat, cardigan and Mary Jane shoes. We walked around outside on the property. Papa has cleared out a lot of brush and has made a nice trail to the river that runs through their property. Saturday night on the way back home we drove by Temple Square for my dad to see. It was too cold and we were not prepared to get out and walk around. My dad stayed with us Saturday night. He and I went to the gym and worked out together. His flight left early this morning. Taylor brought him to the airport at 5 a.m. We hope he comes again for Christmas. We had a nice long weekend. And now we look forward for Christmas and all the fun and uplifting activities that lead up to it. We love this time of year to spend with family and friends, eat good food, and celebrate the birth and life of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Army freestyle crawl

This little girl is starting to crawl. We bribed her with puffs and yogurt melts... it's in between an army crawl and a free style swim on land. It's pretty cute.

Welcome Wyatt!

Saturday, November 19, we got a call at 4 in the morning asking if Jill and Dan could drop Lacie girl off to us because Jill was in labor. Taylor of course said yes, but only after asking if Lacie would be sleeping! After he hung up I asked him what was going on and he told me. I asked him what he would have said if Lacie would have been awake... it was like that was the deciding factor. He was half asleep and said he didn't know why he asked that, but I thought it was pretty funny. Wyatt Daniel was born later that morning! He is so handsome and we are so happy to add another nephew to the family. We had a lot of fun with Lacie. She is going to be a great big sister. We made pancakes, built a fort, made play-dough, painted, watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse... We are blessed with some pretty special nieces and nephews in our lives and Sage is blessed with some fun cousins/friends.

Love everything about this girl!

November 18, 2011

This evening we went to a Thanksgiving dinner at our church. It was nice to visit with friends and eat yummy food. There is a sweet girl in the ward who came over and asked if she could hold Sage while we ate. She just loves Sage and always asks to see her on Sundays.She walked around with her and showed her off. Sage of course is so easy going and loved the attention. A young man came over and asked us if we could hide Sage because his wife just loves her and thinks she is the cutest thing and said that Sage is making her too baby hungry. I know we are biased, but we think she is pretty cute too. And her personality is so fun. When we got home we put her to bed right away since it was already past her usual bed time. We put her down without swaddling her for the first time and she whined for just a minute and went right to sleep. She is such a good girl. I am grateful it is Friday. We don't have any plans this weekend. Sometimes those are the best weekends. It is snowing tonight. Paradise has got quite a bit of snow. It may be a white Thanksgiving. Can you believe we are already towards the end of November? This month has gone by even faster than October.

Sneak Peek

Our friend Caitlin took our family pictures and took a few of our little lady as well. We just got a little sneak peek of them and they are so cute! She did an awesome job. Here is just a little sneak peek of a couple she took of Sage. Sage was cold (she had a little red nose) and so curious (looking everywhere but the camera and playing with/eating the leaves on the ground), but Caitlin still managed to get some good pictures of her. We can't wait to see the rest!

Pretty in pink!

Gratitude

At church today the topic of gratitude was discussed. It was said that when we are ungrateful and do not recognize our blessings and that we offend God. How powerful that statement hit me. I am blessed with so much. I know that all that is good comes from God. When it comes to blessings in our lives I do not believe there are any coincidences nor do I believe that we accomplish anything by our own strengths alone. I am grateful that all of our basic needs are met and I recognize and am grateful for all of the luxuries we enjoy. I am especially grateful for a loving, supportive and dedicated husband and a sweet, healthy baby girl. I'm also grateful for extended family that love and support us and that are such wonderful examples to us of how to live Christlike lives. I am grateful to feel the love of God in my life on a daily basis. There is so much to be grateful for. I was talking to my step-mom this evening and learned that she has been laid off at work. She has until the 22nd of December. She has a potential job opportunity with the same company, which would require her to relocate. Everything is up in the air and nothing is certain at this time, but she just kept telling me that it is a blessing and that "God is good." I couldn't agree more. Even during times of challenge and adversity He is there and He is so good!

November 8, 2011

Today we stayed home all day. I usually try and take Sage out at least for little bit, but today we both stayed in our jammies until noon and just played. Sage enjoyed playing with paint in a bag and spent most of her day rolling around. She also ate her first cheerios today! I gave her just a few and she did pretty good eating them. We always listen to music and Sage has become quite the dancer. She rocks back and forth and shakes her head. Just when I think she can't get any cuter, she does. Her personality is so much fun.  She is also consistently napping really well. I love it because I can get everything I need/want to done while she napping and focus on her and play with her when she is awake. Taylor came home early to play with Sage while I made dinner, we ate, he gave her a bath and then he went back to work for a couple more hours before going to play basketball. I put Sage down for bed and did my workout video and got ready for bed. Taylor just got home from basketball and is showering and then we will watch an episode of The Biggest Loser and then read from The Snow Angel, which we are reading together. I love this little family of mine. I am counting my blessings!

She started out on her blanket... she is on the move. Still no crawling, but she is at least rolling to get what she wants now. She found the printer in the corner and the paper. When I took the paper away she stomped her feet and screamed. It's about time we child proof our place.

Her eyes sparkle and make us smile!

Notice her very first pig tails and her two cute teeth on the bottom!

Be careful what you wish for!

Taylor and I were talking early in the week and I mentioned how I wish I had just one day to get everything I want to done. So, he granted my wish and decided he would take Sage up to Paradise to visit with his parents and my grandparents for the day on Saturday. I had never spent an entire day without her. Thursday night he informed me that he thought he would go up Friday evening instead and stay all day Saturday. I did not like the thought of having them away over night. Sage has never been away from me over night. I cried as they drove away Friday evening and cried again Saturday when Jodie asked how it was and said she was jealous I had a whole day to get things done. I am glad they ended up going on Friday evening though so they didn't have to drive in the snow on Saturday morning. I missed those two! I made it worth it though and got a lot done. I made several trips to the DI, cleaned out our closets, and organized our dresser. I cleaned a ton, caught up on Sage's baby book, started and actually finished all our laundry, and worked out with my friend Friday and Saturday evening. I survived and they had a good time.

The saddest thing I have ever seen...

is seeing our little Sage throwing up.

 She was so hungry, but couldn't keep anything down. 8 months without being sick quickly changed yesterday afternoon. We went out to run some errands and before I even left the complex I heard choking. I quickly got out of the car and ran back to her and she was covered in throw up. I turned around, brought her home and got her cleaned up. She was laughing and playing so I thought maybe her last bottle didn't settle well. I cleaned up her car seat and we went out again. As soon as we were in the store I knew that it was a bad idea to have taken her out again. We quickly got home and got cleaned up again. She was hungry so I gave her a bottle. Another bad idea. She drank 3 ounces and it immediately came back up and out her nose, all over the carpet, her blanket and me. She took a nap and Taylor came home with some Pedialyte. We gave her an ounce, waited 15 minutes, gave her another ounce and she was holding it down so we gave her a third ounce and it all came back up. The nurse told us to only give her a teaspoon every 10 minutes for the first hour and then if she held that down 2 teaspoons every 10 minutes and to not give her any formula for 12-24 hours. It was the saddest thing I ever saw. She was so hungry and would get so mad after we would use the medicine dropper to give her a teaspoon. She also had a little fever. She was exhausted, but couldn't sleep because she was hungry. She finally went to bed around 11. (Her normal bedtime is 6:30) She doesn't seen to have much of an appetite this morning, but has held down 5 ounces of formula and is napping now.

8 months!!!

Dear Sage Bug,

Today you are 8 months old! We can't believe it! It feels like just yesterday that we were anxiously awaiting your arrival. You are such a blessing in our lives. It is so much fun to watch you grow and develop. This month:

• you had 3 teeth come in. 2 on the bottom and 1 on top.
• you became increasingly feisty
• you started to hold your own bottle.
• we bought you 8 ounce bottles because you are drinking more.
• you learned to get yourself from a sitting position to laying on your tummy.
• you are a talking machine. some of your favorite things to say are, "yayayayayaya", "mamamamma", and "bababababa". The middle of the night is your favorite time to talk.
• you think it is funny when daddy talks to you with his foot (you'll have to ask him about this one)
• you continued going to bed between 6-6:30 p.m. and wake up once, sometimes twice, to eat. Usually around 3-4 in the morning but sometimes around 1 a.m also. You usually wake up between 6-7.
• you learned how to pull off your elastic bracelets.
• you began napping so much better in your crib. We got blackout blinds for your window which make your room pretty dark in the day. You were sleeping in our closet for a couple weeks before this.
• you celebrated your first Halloween. You dressed up as a little pumpkin and were the cutest pumpkin we have ever seen.
• you started clapping. You have only done it a few times and do not do it on command.
• you continued to throw fits- you cry, arch your back, stomp your feet and throw your arms around. You're such a baby!
• you started to roll around a little to get what you want around you. You are still not crawling
• you began entertaining yourself a lot more.
• you sometimes dance when you hear music. You rock back and forth with a big smile on your face. You even do this at church when you hear the hymns.
• you are still wearing your 6 month clothes, but are starting to wear some of your 9 month clothing.
• you are still in size 2 diapers.
• according to our scale you weigh 15 lbs  8 ounces.

You do not like: being put in your stroller or car seat (you dislike being strapped in), you do not like when we try and take away paper from you, you do not like being put to nap or bed (it's a love/hate- you usually stop crying even before we shut your door). There really is not many things you do not like. You are pretty easy going most of the time.

You love: eating mommy and daddy's apples and peaches, eating books, going on walks with mommy, when daddy hangs you upside down and tickles your neck, rubbing noses, paper, playing with plastic water bottles, listening to music, taking your toys out of your toy box by yourself, your finger puppets,  being read to, watching other babies, chatting, lots of attention



We love being your parents. You are such a joy! Happy 8 months our little lady!

Love,
mommy & daddy xoxo





Halloween 2011

Where did October go? Halloween has come and gone. We had a very nice evening spent with family. We all gathered at Jodie and McKay's and had such a good time. Everyone came- a pretty pink princess, a darling clown, Captain America, Anikan, a bumble bee and her sweet bee keeper, a cute lil cow, cowgirls and a cow boy, the most darling fishbowl from a cute pregnant belly, a Brazilian mailman and the cutest pumpkin I have ever seen. Last minute Taylor and I borrowed costumes from a friend. He was Anikan and I was Princess Leah. We had a Yoda costume for our little bug, but decided the pumpkin was cuter. We ate yummy chicken casserole, salad, and roles and we definitely had enough sweets. Jeanne and Tony brought donuts, pumpkin squares and carmel apples. Jodie made our favorite apple dumplings. Jeanne of course planned a few fun games for the kids and had sugar cookies for them to decorate too. Next year our Sage girl and Kaylee will be able to participate a little more and baby Wyatt will be with us too. As we were walking from house to house Taylor and I were talking about what a weird holiday Halloween is... people dress up and go door to door and get candy. It is a little odd, but it sure is fun!