6 months

Harper Lee,

 You are such a joy! Everywhere we go people always comment on how easy going and peaceful you are. I have said this before and I am sure will say it many times over the years, but you are perfect for our family. You are the calm and content we need. This past month has been a big one for you with lots of new milestones. 

• 16.2 lbs (50%) 26 in (65%)
• content and happy
• rolling all around
• likes to eat paper
• trying so hard to crawl
• sleeps 12 hours through the night
• starting to take good naps
• went to California for the second time 
• trying new foods
• very ticklish
• likes playing peek-a-boo with her sister
• wearing 6-9 months clothes
• wears size 3 diapers
• beginning to sit on her own for longer periods of time
• can hold her own bottle
• drinks 5-6 oz every 3-4 hours

Our Crazy Haired Girl

Bed head never looked so good! 

• potty trained, doesn't take the bottle anymore & sleeps in a toddler bed
• favorite food: animal cookies!! "pink ones" Although, animal cookies are her favorite, she has become a really good eater. Eats just about anything really well. Other favorites include: waffles, oranges, apples, broccoli, potatoes, toast, chicken nuggets, french fries
• favorite color: pink 
• favorite toy: baby dolls
• favorite book: Wheels on the Bus
• favorite shows: Dora, Cailou, Barney, Wheels on the Bus
• favorite songs: Carly Rae Jepsen- Call Me Maybe, Taylor Swift-Trouble
• sings: I am a Child of God & Twinkle Twinkle Little Star really well
• loves: having her back rubbed, singing, jumping on the trampoline, going to the park, playing with friends and loves her cousins
• new phrases she says: Oh geeze, what happened?! shoot! I do it, Ew. Stinky. I try it. Play me. ooh pretty mama. 

We are blessed!

Harper's blessing May 11, 2013

Taylor blessed our girl the other day and it was beautiful and perfect just like her.

 

Are you a baby or a big girl?

Our baby Sage is potty trained and off the bottle! Hooray! If you ask her if she is a baby or a big girl her response will change depending on her mood, but she definitely is such a big girl! It has been about a month and we have only had a couple accidents since that first, very cold and gloomy day. I remember it was cold and gloomy because we had Sage naked all day and I kept worrying she was cold and wanted to put it off until the weather warmed up! After a couple weeks of pulls ups during nap/bed and while we are out we knew she was ready for no pull ups at nap  because she always woke up dry and we knew she didn't need them when we went out because she always told us when she had to go and was able to hold it while we found a potty, She is down to a pull up only at bedtime. Potty training was easy! The bottle was the one I was really dreading... but it actually was really easy too! We packed up her bottles and left them on the door for another baby since Sage is a big girl. She kissed her bottles goodbye! Literally! It has been over a week and she asked for it every once in a while, but then we remind her she is a big girl and she asks for her cup instead. 

Ears Pierced

Our Harper girl had her two month check up and is right on track. Healthy and always just as happy as can be. She weighs 11 lbs 11.5 oz (56%) and is 23 inches long (56%). She is perfect. Just like with Sage after having received her 2 month vaccines we took her to get her ears pierced. I will be the first to admit that it is really sad, but it is no worse than getting shots and is over so quickly and she was happy just a few short minutes later. Sage was also quite excited for Harper to have earring like her. We have yet to get a good picture of her that shows her ears because they are kind of hidden behind her yummy, juicy cheek!

2 months

2 months?! Once again time has flown by as I am sure we will say every month that passes. It seems like forever away, but I am sure we will look back years from now when you have a family of your own and say the same thing and wonder where the time has gone. You are such a good baby. You never cry unless you are hungry (or in the car if your headband has fallen down over your eyes!) and you love to snuggle. Your calmness is just what our little family needed. You have started to smile and coo. And as you can tell you have really filled out. You won't have your 2 month check for a couple weeks because mom thought she had plenty of time to schedule it after your 2 week check, but 2 months sure has crept up on us! You are still really sleepy, but have started to be awake a little more the past week. When you are awake you are happy sitting under your jungle gym and looking around. You are most alert/awake between 8-11 pm. You love warm baths. You love to nurse and usually fight the bottle until hunger wins. You are so beautiful and we love everything about you!

Sage Bug

Sage 

Does not stop talking.

Goes on the potty like a champ. 

Says "bless you" when you sneeze

Calls Harper by her first and middle name- Harper Lee

Always wants to "pick" her own snack 

Always says "try" and wants to try everything we do or have

Copies everything we say. The other day she copied me and said "shoot!" and then "oh geez!"

Has a really good memory

Likes to help

We always sing the primary song, "A Happy Family" and she chooses who we love... "I love Sage girl she loves me, we love..." usually it is always mama, dada, Harper and papa. The other day she said, "Cole" and then "Cole mama" (meaning Cole's mom Caitlin) and she has since been adding cousins to the list. Our song is getting quite long...

Asks to paint and play play-doh on a daily basis

loves going to the nursery at church

likes to sing. her favorite song at the moment is "head, shoulders, knees and toes"

Our Big Girl

We decided to change Sage's crib to a toddler bed. It has been 3 nights and three naps and she is a champ! The first night she fell out, but that has been the only problem. She hasn't tried to get out of bed or play. She loves getting her books and crawling into bed. After books and prayers we tuck her in and don't hear a peep until morning. Today was the first morning she got up out of her bed by herself. I heard "mama" coming from outside our bedroom door. Usually, she stays in bed and calls out for us to come get her like she would do in her crib. She is such a big girl. We can hardly believe she is turning two in just a few days!

Sage

I need to write an update on this sweet girl before Harper joins us. Sage is 22 months and is sweet, sassy and so much fun! We love her more than words can say. Her vocabulary has increased quite a bit the past month as she seems to learn a new word every day. She still signs quite a bit, but always has a huge smile with the accomplishment of saying a new word. A few random fun things she says is "beep beep" when someone or something is in her way. I say "beep beep excuse me" to her all the time and the other week in nursery I heard her tell another little girl, "beep beep" and she now says it all the time.   Ooops! She also says, "go, go, go" when we are stopped at stoplights. She likes to have "juice" on her toast, which is what she calls jam. She calls Jesus "gee gee" and for some reason loves the story of him healing the blind man. We had shared the story with her several weeks ago and when we read the scriptures she often wants to see the picture and hear about "gee gee. boy. eyes. happy." We simply explained that the boy's eyes were hurt and Jesus helped him and he was happy. She calls our friend Ashley "Ashes" and associates her name with "Ring Around the Rosies"... "ashes ashes we all fall down." Her new favorite character from Sesame Street is Abby Cadabby. Abby may have stolen her heart more than Elmo. She calls all fruit "apples" and calls pizza "pie." She loves to "tap tap" (tap dance). She loves playing in her kitchen, but still very much loves her babies. Her favorite number is 2. If you ask her how old she is 2 is the answer. If you ask her to say the number 1, 2 is what she says. When she counts it is usually "2, 2, 2, 2".  We love when she giggles and covers her mouth. She has a great laugh. She still loves her "ba ba". Although she hasn't actually gone, she loves sitting on her potty. She loves to run away and hide when we are in a hurry and trying to get her coat and shoes on to go out. She is going to be a great big sister. We are so grateful to have her as our daughter and know she will be a huge blessing in Harper's life as well. 

Latest on Sage (21 months)

• Every time I wear my jammie bottoms that have snowflakes on them she wants to change into her sleeper that has snowflakes too
• knows how to work out iphones and the ipad. She unlocks it and knows how to find the pictures and how to scroll through them. Also, knows how to find the Netflix app on the ipad and put Elmo on to watch. 
• If she can't sleep she always calls out "mama." When we go in to check on her she is always standing in her crib leaning up against the railing and folds her arms and wants to say another prayer.
• Always yells, "bye" when we put her to bed before the door closes behind us
• Says, "mon" (come on) a lot and wants you to sit and play with her
• Likes and asks to sit on her potty. She hasn't actually gone on it yet, but it's a start!
• If you tell her we are going to the library she starts dancing and assumes we are going to a class, which always has some dancing and singing. 
• Still loves her baby dolls
• knows how to throw a fit and tries to pinch and dig her nails into you when she is upset (we're working on this one...)
• sure is a sweetheart though. Gives the best kisses and hugs. Of course, only when she wants to though. If you ask her and she is not in the mood, she will give you a snooty "nooo"
• loves to be chased and run up and down the hall. She tries to say one, two, three and then comes charging down the hall with her arms open wide for you to catch her
• Hugs and kisses the phone when we are facetiming with grandparents
• Will pretend to take food out from a book (the picture) and eat it
• loves her routine and will let you know if you forget something. The other night we forgot to put her fan on and she kept calling for us and when we went in she pointed to her fan and said, "yeah. okay. bye" and laid back down.
• loves reading about Jesus. She knows where her scriptures are and when we tell her it's time to read about Jesus she goes and  get Book of Mormon and sits down where we read every night. 
• Still signs a lot, but is learning a lot more words. "mam", "dada", "more", "mon", "cheese", "apple", "poo poo", "pee pee", "tree", "baby", "okay", "no", "yeah", "ba ba", "juice", "ball" are among the ones we hear the most though out the day; although she knows quite a few more.
• Her newest word is: "please" and "boy"
• is very particular to what music she likes. If a song changes on the radio and she doesn't like it she is sure to let you know by yelling no over and over again until you put a song she likes. Who knew a not even 2 year old could have such a strong opinion. We have a CD with random songs on it and her favorite is Will Smith's Getting Jiggy With It. It's the only one she likes and she crys and throws a fit until that song is on... and then says "yayayayayaya" for the "nanananana" part.

Lucky Girls

Taylor is enjoying working for E*Trade. He has been in training this past month and studying for the Series 7, which is a common license in the investment industry. Yesterday was his big exam day. He has worked and studied so hard that we were confident he would pass. Not only did he pass, but he got one of the highest scores in his group! We are so proud of him! I arranged for a babysitter and surprised him and took him to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, which is one of our favorite restaurants that he has been begging to go to for weeks. It was nice to get away for a couple hours and celebrate. Sage, Harper and I are pretty lucky girls to have him!

Our Big Girl

Sage is getting to be such a big girl. Several people have commented on how he has lost her baby look and that she is looking like a little girl. I know I am biased but I think he is pretty cute with her hair up in a pony tail. Thankfully she is napping right now. Yesterday she was up at 6:30 in the morning and did not nap all day. She has such personality. She is walking more and more every day. She took several steps right before her first birthday, but has refused to walk ever since. She would bend her knees and throw her head back if we tried to get her to, but this past week she has done it on her own. It's all on her own time and her own timing is perfect. She loves necklaces and is really good at putting them on herself. She also still love her baby dolls. We recently adopted two new baby dolls into our home because she took one from her Grandma and Grandpa's house in Paradise and also took one from her cousins. 

This is where I found Sage . She usually is hanging all over me as I try and get ready, but not this morning... I really was looking all over for her and calling her name. Her little giggle gave her away.  She was under the table with her baby. 

Team Utah

Congratulations to the TOP Utah agents by line of business for February, 2012.   

Please take a look and see where you rank in the State. 

Keep up the great work, and happy selling! 

Top Fire NBNH for February goes to...

1st Place: Taylor Fenton

Blue Vase

Winning the Blue Vase is a reference to a leadership story called The Go-Getter: A Story That Tells You How To Be One by Peter Bernard Kyne. The Blue Vase is the first major milestone Farmers agents can achieve. It is also one of the most prestigious awards a Farmers Insurance Agent can obtain, as it symbolizes exceptional sales and service in the field of Life insurance. Taylor achieved this back in September.  He received a little bonus, a nice watch and was also presented with this award the other day. Go Taylor! Sage and I are his biggest fans!