Ami's 1st Encounter with Santa

Last night was our Christmas party for our ward. Of course, there was a special visitor.

Overwhelming Joy

Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of days. Nothing too exciting has happened around her. Ami still has a runny nose, is getting three teeth in, and trying to get rid of diaper rash. Needless to say we haven't been out and about very much. She can turn cranky in 5.0 seconds.



Then there are other times when I can't believe that she is my child. Yesterday I was sitting in the glider giving her a bottle and rubbing her forehead when she drifted off to sleep. It felt like time had stopped and the world was at peace. I sat there for several minutes with her in my arms and wanted to cry with overwhelming joy. Can life get any better than this?

Miss Independent

Scott and my conversation this morning.



Scott: "Can you imagine how my parents feel to have all the kids and grandkids in the house for Christmas?"



Becky: "They don't want to see us, they just want to see their grandbabies."



Scott: "No they want to see us too. They would take her if we flew her up, though."



Becky: "Can you see Ami on a plane by herself?"



Scott: "Yeah she wouldn't have any problems."



Becky: "She probably wouldn't even wave bye to us."



Instead of calling her Little Miss America, we are going to start calling her Miss Independent.



P.S. Some pictures have been posted.

Snot vs Poop

Ami woke up with a runny nose this morning. So, of course I have been on snot patrol today. A couple of times I have been off doing other stuff and come back to find snot on the ottoman. I wipe it off and think how disgusting it is to wipe up snot. And then I made a big mistake and thought what could be worse!!



Poop!! When you change Ami you have to put the used diaper way out of reach or she will roll over and get it. She won't give you enough time to wrap it up before you put on the new diaper. So, I forgot about the poopy diaper and went about playing with Ami. Then, I remembered the diaper and figured I would get it when I got up. As many of you know things slip your mind. The next thing I know I am fixing lunch when Ami comes up to the gate and has poop on her hands and around her mouth.



I grabbed the diaper from her and picked her up as if she had some deadly disease, stripped her down, and threw her in the bathtub. The whole time she is screaming. She had been perfectly content with poop all over her and now mom took away all the fun. As I give her a bath I am imagining what her room looks like.



Why are babies disgusting? I think this is why I waited so long to have kids. I'm headed towards thirty and baby fluids gives me the creeps.



In order to make myself feel better about the day and get rid of the poop smell throughout my house I'm going to go buy a Yankee Candle later.

Creative Parenting

When Scott returned home last night from something at church, I complained to him about how Ami was fussy while he was gone. At the end I said, "So I squirted her in face and everything has been fine ever since." He said, "You did what?" "I squirted her in the face." He laughed.



We have a squirt bottle around the house so when the animals are doing something wrong or we are trying train them to stop doing something we squirt them. Well, last night it worked on Ami too. It was just enough to stun her out her fussing. It was set on mist, not the high power rifle squirt. It probably wouldn't be something that would last very long as a way to punish your child, but on occasion out of shear surprise it just might do the job.



Now Scott's creative parenting is part of feeding Ami. Earlier today she was sitting in her crib with her legs hanging over the edge. Scott entered her room and put the bottle between the bars and held it there. He laughs, "She could be our gerbal, get the camera." He then tried tying the bottle to the crib. It didn't work, thank Heavens.







If you need help with parenting drop us a line and we'll think of something creative for you.

The Little Red Lighthouse

On our last video you may have wondered why we included a picture of a red lighthouse for our Griffin Productions slide. When we went to NYC we went on a tour that went around the whole island of Manhattan. Our tour guide pointed out this red lighthouse and also told us about a children's book, The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge. We now own the book, of course. It's a cute book if you have been there. As we read it to Ami it reminds us of the fun time we had in NY.

There she goes!

On Sunday night Ami took her first steps. At first it was just one or two, or taking a really long transfer between the couch and the ottoman. So we decided to get the video camera and see if we could coax her to take a few more. She did and we were lucky enough to get it on tape. She hasn't cooperated again until this evening, when we were able to get her to take 5 or 6 steps at a time several different times. We were able to get it on tape again. She seems to do better if she is distracted. It won't be too long and we will be running around chasing her!

Tis the Season

Tis the season of bad luck for us. I think just about every year since Scott & I have been married something has been vandalized, broke into, or had car problems this time of year. Actually last year I don't think anything like that happened to us, but our flight back home was canceled. This year somebody broke out one of the windows in the Jeep.

I was at a Relief Society activity at somebody's house and went out to leave when I found one of the rear door windows had been busted out. Luckily this time they didn't take anything. The police said he didn't think that it was random since they succeeded on the second try. I think if that is the case they thought my car belong to somebody else. We don't have any problems with anyone.



I don't understand why people like to cause problems for others. It was probably some teenagers that had nothing better to do. That's the only people I can think that would think that breaking out somebody's window is remotely fun. The wires in their brains aren't fully connected yet.



Oh well, life is continuing on today. I am at home hanging out waiting for the window repair guy to come install a new window. Oh, what fun it is!!

Adventuresome Ami

Ami is getting more adventuresome every day. If she wants something or wants to get somewhere bad enough she will figure out how to do it. At this point I could live with out her being so determined. Later in life it will serve her well.

Saturday Ami realized what was behind the curtain. She decided she wanted to climb into the window. I went outside and took some pictures. They didn't come out as well as I hoped due to the glare off the window.

Today she learned how to climb up on the gate that blocks her from going into the kitchen. I think the purchase of a different kind of gate is in order. I tell ya no place is out of Ami's reach.

Teething...Ugh!!

Teething may make me revert back to some my old ways before I was a member of the Church. (I won't tell you my old ways, I"ll leave that up to your imagination.) Ami's first tooth broke through yesterday. I think another one may be coming in. She had diarrhea today which gave her a bad case of diaper rash. Poor little thing would scream and cry every time I would change her diaper. It made for a miserable day.



On a brighter note. It made me grateful for the happy little girl that she is most of the time.

Black Friday Crazies

With the temperature being 70 the week before Thanksgiving it didn't feel like the holidays were approaching us. But the day of Thanksgiving we weren't let down. I think it only got in the 40's. So, you are probably asking why am I giving you a weather report and especially for time that has already passed.



We went to T or C for Thanksgiving and ended up coming back that same day since I forgot the play pen that Ami sleeps in when we are away from home. We got to Albuquerque around midnight. Snow was coming down and it was freezing. We exited off the interstate at Eubank. Best Buy happens to be there, so we drove up to it to see the crazy people that were waiting for Black Friday. Sure enough we weren't disappointed.

We have video evidence!

So here's a little video of our baby King Kong. It's a little long, about 2.5 minutes, but it's worth it (not that I'm biased)!

The Next King Kong

In the past week Ami has been trying her climbing abilities out. The other day she had one knee up on the couch and the other foot a couple inches off the ground. (As you can see from the picture she had to climb out of pants because they were getting in the way.) Yesterday while our home teachers were over she managed to climb up on my chair since the ottoman was close enough to push off of. I have finally gotten use to her crawling and cruising and she throws something new at me. Can't she walk before she climbs?

True Church, Imperfect People

Hollywood Flakes, another blog has really gotten me to think about what we are willing to say when we can be anonymous. The writer wanted all of the comments to be anonymous. At this time she has 150 comments of people admitting to picking their noses to deep down they hate being a mom to their marriages being in shambles. People wrote comments that they would never have the nerve to say if anybody knew it was them.

A lot of the people commenting are LDS. There was a theme of women hating Relief Society, not the program but the other women. They felt like they are always being judged. These same women through this blog were able to state their true feelings and ideas without being judged. You can tell that it was such a relief for them to get things off their chest. Why isn't this the case when talking to their "Sisters" in Relief Society? Aren't we supposed to be there for one another?

As a convert to the Church almost eight years ago I think I have had some sort of goggles on that distorted my view.Up until recently I have had a wrong impression of people in the Church.I thought everybody was perfect, that nobody has any problems. I mean I know people aren't perfect that is one of the reasons we are here on earth, but people pretend to be perfect. I am sure I am one of them. I don't want other people in the Church to know that my life isn't perfect or that I am struggling. It shouldn't be that way. (Not that everybody and their brother need to know your business either.)

Yes, this is the true church on earth, but with imperfect people. We are just like everybody else in this world. We have problems and trials. The exception is that we have spiritual tools to use to help us through those problems and trials. But why can't we also use each other to bounce off of? I think people outside of the Church do a much better job of really talking to one another, becoming true friends' not mere obligations. Most of the time in the Church talk is superficial. We say what we think others want to hear. We don't want to be the one with the ideas that don't fit in the box.

I feel like we are robots in the Gospel. Be real, be who you are!! Life is more interesting that way.

(This opinion is a general observation not anyone or congregation specifically.)

What size underwear do I wear???

WARNING! WARNING MEN! The following is about women's underwear!!





Have you ever wondered why women's underwear don't coincide with any measurements or pant size? Last night I was on the phone with my mom and she really likes a certain brand of underwear at JcPenny's. She told me her size and I know it's not the same size of pants that she wears. It got me thinking why in the heck they make it so complicated for women to purchase underwear the right size. It's not like you can try them on!! (eehw!! Who would want to buy underwear somebody else tried on?)



Since gaining weight years ago, losing weight, getting pregnant, and having a baby I have no idea what size underwear I wear. Can somebody tell me how you figure this out? Do you take the derivative of your waist to the x-2 power and subtract 10?



My conclusion is that a man must have invented women's underwear and how they are sized. If I remember correctly is was a man that invented the bra. What does he know about wearing a bra unless he's a cross dresser? And still he doesn't have the equipment to put a bra through the full test. Men!!

Happy Belated Veteran's Day

The other day a friend and I were at the mall when she noticed the clerk was wearing a pin that indicated that she had a loved one in Iraq. Katie started asking some details and found out it was her son. The clerk told us about her grandson turning two in a couple days and that his dad will have missed both of his birthdays.



Now having a child of my own I can't imagine not seeing her everyday let alone on her birthday. It causes my heart to ache and tears to roll down my face to think about this family.



On the Today Show they had a segment that a soldier surprised his two sons by coming home a couple months early for a visit. He will have to return to Iraq in a couple weeks for seven months. Since he has been gone his youngest son has learned to read and write. Children grow and change so fast that being away from them has to be one of the biggest sacrifices I can think of.



Both of these stories have caused me to reflect upon how grateful I am to the men and women that serve our country. I am grateful to them to be willing to sacrifice watching their kids grow up, so that I can be with mine in safety. I am grateful to them being willing to serve in a time when things are in disarray. Up until this point I was grateful for them but it didn't dawn on me the sacrifices that they make, so we can live in a free country.

What to Wish for at 3AM?

We are going through sleep training with Ami again. The first time it only took one night to break her of her bad habits. This time with her being older we are on day 5, and she still has one long period of crying in the middle of the night. So, as I laid there at 3 o'clock this morning I was thinking about if I could have wishes granted to me what would they be.



1. Ami would be sleeping and I wouldn't be thinking about this.



2. I would be sleeping.



3. Cats weren't nocturnal creatures. Flash always seems to wake me up in the middle the night somehow. He purposely jumps on my night stand or scratches at the door. I think he thinks it is a good habit for me to keep, getting up in the middle of the night, whether it be for him or Ami.



4. My bladder would work the same way it did previous to pregnancy. It forces me out of bed for I swear one ounce of pee.



5. Our bedroom door didn't make noise, so Ami wouldn't know that I was up. Problems of living in a small house.



6. A snoreless husband. Or maybe this is a good thing to drown out the crying.



7. A heater that doesn't make clanking sounds.



8. That I was a man and could sleep through our house being bombed.



I know you are only suppose to get three wishes, but I think for getting up in the middle the night for the past 12 months I deserve eight. I realize Ami is only nine months but let's face it, I got up every night for at least the last 3 months to go to the bathroom when I was pregnant with her.

Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Get In Trouble Too!!

Today Ami is officially 9 months old. Time has really flown by. Before we know it she will be getting her drivers license, dating, going off to college, getting married, and then making me a grandma. Ok maybe time doesn't go by that fast!! Some days I wish it did, but we'll take it as it comes. It is fun to try to see the world through her view as she figures out how things work.





This morning I was folding up blankets and putting them in this large basket like thing when Ami decides that she is going to climb in. Literally climb in. The basket is as tall as the couch. She used the lid for traction and climbed right on in. I couldn't grab the camera fast enough to catch her in action, so the following will have to suffice.









She amazes us everyday somehow. Scott bought her a shirt that says Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Get In Trouble Too. It is really fitting. She isn't afraid of anything.

New Pictures are Posted

FYI.

MOMs Club

Yesterday was the first time that Ami & I went to one of the MOMs Club activities. We went to a playgroup that had about 10 babies under the age of 1. Ami was the most mobile . She went around stealing toys, poking the other babies in the eyes, and taking their bottles. (I told Scott she must get this aggressive behavior from his side of the family, since our nephew can be aggressive.) I was a little scared that she was that aggressive with these babies we just met. There moms' were fine, but I don't want to be know as the lady with the violent baby.



Anyways, today we went to a new member breakfast and she played and climbed the stairs. She seemed to enjoy herself so much that she tuckered herself out into a nap. Yay!!



I wanted to let others out there that need to get out of the house with their kids about this MOMs Club that I found on the internet. They have activities that are for you and your kids, girls night out, and even family activities depending on the chapter. The website to find out if there is one in your area is momsclub.org or you can start one.

Scott Growing Up!?!

Scott informed me that it is time that he grows up seeing as he is no longer a college kid. He claims that since school is no longer in session for him he doesn't have anymore excuses.



I noticed on Thursday that he was clean shaved. Any of you that know Scott know that this is not normal. He said, "I have decided that I am going to shave on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday." "Why," I asked. He replied, "It's time I grow up and act like an adult." I just smiled because I like to kiss him more when he has a smooth face.



He still has his occasional out burst of juvenile behavior. I blame this on his father's genes and the fact his calling requires him to hangout with twelve year old boys all the time. I threaten him that I will call the Bishop to release him from his calling if he doesn't start acting his age. But to no avail.

Meet the Flintstones

Last night was our Halloween Party at church. Ami's hair inspired us to dress up as the Flintstones. Scott made a great Fred.







P.S. Other pictures of Ami are posted as well.

What are we in for today?

It wasn't even 8:00 this morning when Ami was being a holy terror. On Scott's watch while I went to the gym this morning Ami decided to play with one of her used diapers. I get home and Scott says, "Do you have any Clorox Wipes? You need to wipe her hands off with them." At this point he hadn't explained what had transpired.



Scott heads off to work and I proceed to clean up from breakfast when that eerie silence is over the house. You know what I am talking about. When the baby is being too quite. I peak in Ami's room and she's not in there. I thought oh no she is in the bathroom!! I found her making kitty chow soup. Of course she had to taste test it to make sure it was good enough for the cat.

Michigan

This past weekend we went to Michigan for my Grandma's 90th Birthday Party. She is in really great health for her age. I wouldn't be surprised if in ten years we see her on the Today Show with Wilard Scott wishing her a happy birthday.



It was good to see all of my family on my dad's side. Most of them I haven't seen in 12 years and others in 6 years. It was nice that everybody made the effort to come for this special occasion. My Grandma didn't know about it until the week before. She said she was going to boycott it.



This was the first time Scott met anybody from my paternal side of the family, other than my parents and one brother. He was surprised to find that there is somebody that talks more than my Dad, my Grandma. He said she was carrying on a conversation with the fish in the kitchen. I'm somewhat use to it. She has been doing this since I can remember. At least he didn't feel obligated to stay in the room like others have done in the past.



One of my cousins and his wife took us out on a Sunday afternoon drive. We went to Lake Michigan and saw some dunes. I never realized there was a beach so close to my Grandma's. I told Scott that I can now vacation there. Scott not only had to see Lake Michigan, but had to go wading.



We had a good time other than the fact that Ami ended up with a runny nose while we where there. I ended up taking her to the doctor Wednesday and they said she is probably teething. Now it has moved to her chest, so I'm thinking that it maybe a cold. This is the first time we have had deal with anything like this with her. I get tired of being on snot patrol. Even though she is sick she still has her happy disposition.



Anyway, be on the lookout for new pictures this weekend.

Balloon Fiesta 2007

We did our annual visit to Balloon Fiesta yesterday. This was the first year we decided to do the park & ride. It will also be our last. We stood in line at six in the morning for almost a hour to get on a bus. Then, it took some crazy route. One sort of funny thing about the park & ride was at the balloon park, the bathrooms were lined up along the path to get back on the bus. People were lined up for the port-a-potties and other people were trying to walk through those lines in order to get in line for the bus. Everybody said make sure you don't end up in the bathroom line. Needless, to say this was definitely poor planning. I think we were in line to get back on the bus about the same amount of time. For any of you that knows Scott, he was being a big fuss bucket. He told a couple that we ran into that we know from church that he is going to write a letter.



The time at Balloon Fiesta was fun. It was neat to see Ami's reaction to the balloons. You won't believe this without seeing pictures for proof. They had a Darth Vader balloon. (See pictures that are posted.) They had storm troopers helping out with the balloon. Crazy!! Who knows what they will have next year.

Swimming with the Robbins

Things are going well. We went up this past weekend to see Steve & Michelle. We had a good time hanging out and going to the pool in Durango. If you ever get the chance to go there, do. They have a curvy slide, a whirl pool, shallow enough water that a baby can crawl around in, hot tub and all the normal stuff.



Ami didn't like it at first, because Scott made us take showers before got in the pool, so she was cold to start off with. After awhile she was ok. Chase had no problems and was happy as a clam.



Oh and when you see Steve don't forget to ask him about Scott's belly flop, I mean dive.



Check out the pictures. They are posted under September since that is when they were taken.

Cruisin' America

Ami surprised us recently by walking with no previous training or encouragement! She was holding on to the couch when she did it, but it was still startling. She was kind enough to do it again when we had the video camera on her. It's almost like the Matrix where someone plugs her in and downloads skills ("I know karate!!") while we are sleeping. As soon as we get used to her crawling, she ups the ante.

Stay at Home Blues

I thought I was adjusted to staying home, but in the past couple of weeks I have discovered that that isn't the case. I feel like everyday is the same. I spend my time taking care of the baby and doing the same household chores over and over again. How do I put some pazzaz into everyday?



The other day I was putting on my shoes and it was taking me a little while. Scott looked at me and told me that it wasn't a calculus problem. I looked at him and told him that is the problem! I don't feel like I am using my brain. Now I need to figure out how to change that.



Don't get me wrong I love staying home and being with Ami. I am very blessed to be able to stay home and instill in my daughter our morals and values. The other day I read a church article that the lady was in the work force and she loved the challenges of her job. She came to the realization that she thought she was too intelligent to stay home to raise her kids. Then she thought to herself, does that mean I only think that only uneducated people should watch my children. Her conclusion of course was no, that she wanted the very best for her children and that she would be the best. It really put things into perspective for me, that I am the very best for Ami.

Turbo Baby Food Blaster

Ami has become a lot of fun and work. I am finding it harder and harder to get things done around the house. I put out plenty of toys for her to play with, but do you think she wants those? No!! Everything else is more interesting. Today in church I kept her occupied with the case to Scott's PDA. It's like she gravitates to electrical cords, plants, electronics, etc.



Her newest thing to do is blow her food out all over herself and anything around her. It doesn't make me real happy to bath her and whatever she is sitting in every time she eats. It was really hard not laugh when she did this. I don't want to encourage her.









Overall she is a really happy baby as you can see from the other pictures that were newly posted today. But she is going to drive her mom crazy. Any hints as to how to keep your sanity once your baby is mobile would be extremely helpful.

Pictures Are Posted

The webmaster survived the wilderness and has fixed our posting picture capabilities. Yay!!

Webmaster on Vacation

Sorry for long wait for the pictures to be posted. My webmaster headed for the woods, so I have no one to fix the error that is occurring when I try to post pictures. No need to worry too much. He will be back tomorrow evening.



Now I know how Scott feels when I am gone for several days. It is sort of lonely. I don't know what to do with myself. Well, I do but I don't think he would appreciate it if I went shopping. I could do things around the house but how much fun would that be. Plus, with Ami being very mobile now I have to keep a close eye on her. There is no chance of getting really involved in anything while she's awake. What a change from her being content sitting in her bouncer.

Catch Up Entry

It seems like life is really busy or really slow. There is no in between. Scott is working on his Wood Badge for scouts, so he has a couple of camp outs that he has to go to. We just got back from Provo last night. In the mix of all of that we finally got our landscaping under control, so that it isn't overwhelming to us. Plus we are having transmission problems with the Jeep. I know before I blink it will all be over. That's the great thing about time is it never stops.



Our child never stops either. She is always on the go if she is awake. She has figured out crawling in the last couple of weeks. Nothing is safe. (You'll see from the pictures.) If it is too quite for any period of time I have to go hunt her down to make sure she's not sticking the cats tail in the light socket. She is also become more observant. She moves her head around make sure she can see what you are doing. We are going to have to start watching what we do. In the past couple of days she has figured out how to pull herself up holding onto something. She amazes me everyday.



New pictures will soon be posted for your viewing pleasure.

Scrapbooking in the 21st Century

I've finally started digital scrapbooking (one word or two?) . It's pretty fun. It's a lot faster than regular scrapbooking once you learn how to use the program you are trying to do it in. I still have to yell for Scott on occasion to come help me. My friend Stephanie had mentioned it on her blog a while back. Before than I had never heard of it. I can blame her for catching the bug. I'm not a pro yet, but here are the pages I have done so far.

A True Sign of Motherhood

I just experienced the first time I have ever caught anyone else's puke in my hand. Thank goodness Ami was wearing a bib so I used that to catch the stream of projectile puke coming out of her mouth. I am very proud of myself. Normally I would run the opposite direction so that way I don't puke. I am showing the true signs of motherhood. Actually I didn't want to have a bigger mess to clean up than necessary.



We are trying to give her more solids. The past two nights we have tried a mashed up potato with a little bit of formula. Both times she did alright with a few bites and then she starts gaging. Last night she choked and tonight well you know the story. I think the texture might be too coarse. I didn't run it through a blender or anything. I just mashed it with a fork.



Switching to real people food is sort of scary. One, her poo is going to stink more. (I'm not sure I am ready for that. I might need the medical mask Michelle got Scott for Christmas.) Two, trying to keep track of how many days in between new things is tedious, but if she is allergic to something I want to be able to pin point. I think all the reading I've done has made me too precautious. Then, I think my mom fed me everything from the time I was four months old and nothing is wrong with me. (Some may disagree with that.)



I honestly think that the "new" way to feed your baby is somewhat horse manure. I think if a baby is allergic to something that they are going to be allergic to it no matter when you feed it to them. You just find out later. I realize I don't have a medical degree nor do I have very much experience as a mother, but think of all the people that have survived and were fed all kinds of things.



Enough of my soap box. Please give me any suggestions on making food that I make for us edible for her.

Getting Our Groove Back

We have settled back into our normal lives. No more running around for Ami and I. Scott will be going off camping almost three weekends in a row. It will be a great time to get caught up on all the chick flicks I've been missing. Hopefully Ami will cooperate with me and let me have a little peace.



We are working on getting Ami to sleep through the night. This past Thursday I decided to go ahead and try a method to get her to put herself back to sleep. Besides breast feeding it was one of the harder things I have had to do as a mother. We decided the cold turkey method of letting her cry it out would probably be best. The first night she cried for an hour going to bed. She then woke up at three for ten minutes and put herself back to sleep for a hour. The next time she cried for an hour. Friday night she slept through the whole night (I didn't because of Scott's snoring) and last night I heard her but she fell back asleep pretty quickly. I am not going to hold my breathe that this is working, because every time I have hope of her sleep improving she tricks me.



Everything else is going good. I am enjoying staying home. I hope to get into some hobbies here soon. I am taking a sewing class and have completed one skirt so far. I also plan on doing both regular scrap booking and digital scrap booking. I guess I can count cooking as a hobby. I am always trying new recipes to keep dinner interesting around here. If you have any great recipes send them my way. Soon Scott & I will be official baby photographers. Isn't it after taking a 1000 pictures of your baby, you get a certificate?



Scott is working and doing scout stuff. Scott says he is still recuperating from getting his degree. That is why he hasn't done much around the house. Then he tells me football will soon be starting, so to forget it. We'll have to see .



(By the way some new pictures are posted of Miss Ami.)

Philly Fun

The fun didn't stop in NYC. We took a train from Penn Station in NYC to Tyrone, PA. Where is Tryone you ask? Well, about a half hour from Penn State. We had to laugh when we got off the train in Tyrone. The train station looked like a little sheltered bus stop you would see on the side of a street. Seriously there was nobody to help you.



My mom's side of the family lives in PA. We were able to see my Grandma Musser and brother, Mike. We spent 4 days there. We didn't do a whole lot, but mostly relax. We needed after NYC. My family aren't members of the Church, so there ways are a lot different then ours. My brother has quite the mouth on him. I was really glad that Ami hasn't learned how to talk yet. I'm not sure what we are going to do when that happens. Hopefully Mike will be more reserved.



Both my Grandma and Mike enjoyed seeing Ami. Ami is my Grandma's first blood related great grandchild. Mike came home from work one night and said all he could think about was coming home and holding Ami. I told him he sounds just like her dad. Mike and his soon to be ex-wife weren't able to have children, so it was really something to see him with a baby.



After our stay with the family we rode a train back to Philly. We spent a night so we could do some sight seeing. Scott was able to get his Philly Steak Sandwhich. He got one at two different places. The one that I had I didn't think was much to write home about, but whatever. We were able to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. It was really something to be in the building where the Declaration and Constitution were signed. I could feel the spirit there. It was confirmed to me that the founding fathers of our country were inspired men. God Bless America (both the country and my baby)!!

Ami scoots!

Ami has started to get mobile! We'll post some pictures from our trip tomorrow (hopefully), but we had to share her newest accomplishment immediately!

Back From the Big Apple

We are back from the big cities. We were gone for 10 days and seemed like it was an eternity. Don't get me wrong we had a really good time, but 10 days on the go with a baby is a little much. Ami did great on the plane and train. She slept most of the time and fussed very little when she was awake. We would practically go from the time we got up till the ten or eleven at night.



NYC was great. (It would be a fun place to live if we didn't have a baby. It is not a stroller friendly place. Getting through the turn things in the subway was impossible and on the bus you had to fold it up. What happens when the babies asleep? Too bad!!)



Anyway, off my soap box. We went to Time Square the first night we were there and it is basically an outdoor shopping mall with the extra lights of Vegas. The Empire State Building is a great way to get an overview of the city. Scott had never been to a professional baseball game so we caught a game at Shea Stadium. Or at least tried. Scott missed the first two batters which hit home runs. He was out with Ami. Needless to say he wasn't happy. The three hour cruise around the island of Manhattan was probably my favorite. Everybody thinks of the skyscrapers when they think Manhattan. There is much more to see. The cruise gave us the opportunity to see that there is trees and other terrain on the island other than Central Park. Little Italy was festive on Friday night for dinner. The roads were blocked off and people just strolled around. While hostesses tried to get people to come in to eat. I went to Central Park during the day and for whatever reason it didn't really impress me. It is a really large park, but I guess it would a lot to me if that was the only place I had to go like that.



We also had the opportunity to go to ground zero. It was amazing to see the construction that is going on. I could still feel the sorrow for the people that lost their lives there. Earlier in the day I went to the Fire Museum. They had a room dedicated to the firefighters that lost their lives. It was really moving. They also had rubble from the WTC.



I must say that New Yorkers are the most friendly people. They have come to the realization in NYC that there are 18 million people and that life is easier if they get along. All you had to do is look somewhat lost and someone would come and give you directions. They also love babies. I think is because there aren't too many around. I could probably count on both my hands how many babies I saw. Young guys would make faces at Ami trying to get a smile out of her and everybody else. It was amazing how much they are awed over her.



Our vacation didn't stop in NYC. Keep tuned in for the rest of the story. To be continued....

Up the Hill to Grama's House

I feel like I am in a whirlwind. Michelle and I went up to Utah to take the grandkids up to see their Grama for her birthday. Grama knew Michelle was coming up on Thursday but didn't know Ami and I would be on her doorstep too. We actually ended up surprising her on Wednesday. Needless to say she was very happy to see us. We were able to spend a week up there.



We had a great time for the week that we were up there. We did a lot of shopping and girl stuff. Ryan loved every minute of it!! He only went shopping with us once, but you could tell he would have rather been doing something else. Michelle and I were making blankets in the living room. I told her we are now "Molly" Mormons.



We went up to Rexburg, ID to see Lisa manage a volleyball tournament. It was fun to see her in action. She set up a birthday party for Grama at a pizza place there. It was Grama's 50th birthday so we had to do something big. (Oh, was I not suppose to tell everybody that!!) Michelle got her good with a fake centipede for a gift. She jumped out of her chair and screamed, knocking the chair over. It was hilarious. Aunt Geralyn did great with her gag gifts too. She got Grama some stuff older people use. On a more serious note, Michelle had people write stories about her mom and we read a few of those to her. Grandma Jones was able to dig up pictures of Grama (Terry) throughout the years. I think she had a good time. I know I did.



I think the best day was the 4th of July. We went to the Stadium of Fire at BYU's football stadium. It was unbelievable. You could definitely feel the patriotism there. They had 4 guys parachute out of a plane onto the field in red, white, and blue. They also had a fly over by four jets. Brooks and Dunn performed. At the end they had a good 45 minutes of fireworks. The fireworks come out of the end zone seats. Everybody ended up with ashes on them because we were so close. I ended up putting on my sunglasses for protective eye wear. It was awesome. If you ever get a chance to go, GO!!



I have been home for three days trying to recuperate and get ready for our trip to NYC. We leave tomorrow. The trip to Utah was just a warm up trip to see how Ami does traveling. She did really well for being in the car for about 12 hours both ways. Hope she does as well on this trip.

Ami is Growing Up

Procrastination is the best, isn't it? I really should be cleaning my house, but instead I am blogging.



In the past couple weeks it really seems as though Ami is understanding her surroundings better. She has become really active and wants to grab anything colorful. I was reading at her age babies really start to be able to distinguish between different shades of the same color. She wants to be more mobile than she is capable of being. She practically tries to jump out of your arms onto the table to grab whatever is attracting her at the moment. It makes eating a little more difficult for us.



A couple of weeks ago we started her on vegetables. Carrots didn't go over too well. We fed them to her several times and finally go them to be acceptable to her. We have now moved onto squash. She seems to be doing better with that. We are trying to hold off on the fruits a little while to make sure she will eat her vegetables. It's amazing the progress she has made in understanding how to eat solids and letting you know when she doesn't want anymore.



She's growing up on us. When she rolled over I told Scott I didn't want her to grow up and this was one of the first steps of doing that. Up until that point she depended on one of us to move her around, besides her scooting around on her back. A baby is growing up fast!!

A Loss

Today we had a death in our family. We're not sure if it was murder or just old age. I came home from the park to find Sam, our fish floating upside down. Earlier this morning the cat was super interested in the fish tank and had found a little of bit of space to put his paw in to bat around at the fish. The fish happened to be 10-12 years old. I have had him for 8 years. He had two prior owners.



He was a good fish. We could wait and clean the tank every six months and he still would survive. He also survived several moves. He was one tough gold fish. He kept me company while Scott was on his mission.



Now I know how Rudy felt in the episode of the Cosby show when her gold fish dies. Everybody gets dressed up and they have a memorial service around the toilet. Once they start the service all Rudy wants to do is watch TV. That's all I want to do too, but it makes it worse the fish tank is right next to the entertainment center.



On the other hand we don't have to clean the fish tank or remember to feed him everyday.



Peace be with you Sam!!

4 Month Check Up

Yesterday Ami and I ventured to the doctors office for her four month checkup. I was dreading going because of the shots. It seems like it gets worse as they get older. I don't why I never realized that they don't just put the tip of the needle in but the whole thing. Poor Ami. Her face turned as red as a radish and her eyes were clenched shut with her mouth open and no sound coming out. Eventually the scream came and everybody knew Ami was there.



Otherwise her doctor appointment was uneventful. She weighs in at 13lbs 14oz and is 25 inches tall. Her height to weight ratio is only in the 45th percentile, but the doctor said not worry. Her height is in the 75th percentile. We might just have a tall kid on our hands. As long as she doesn't out grow her dad we will be fine.



Other than that we are just trying to make arrangements for our house and animals to be taken care of while we are in NYC. Yesterday I spent a couple hours on the internet trying to figure out what we want to do while we are there. There is so much to do. I guess that is what happens if you are one of the first cities in the US to immigrate to. I have to keep on telling myself they have a lot better public transportation system them we do, because I get freaked out about how I am suppose to get from point A to point B without a car. It will be ok I know.

A Full Fledged Sandian!!

This past Friday it became official that Scott is a permanent Sandian. Things have been up in the air for the past several months whether or not Scott would get hired permanently. This past week the paperwork went through. Needless to say that is one less stressful thing on our plate.



Our next plan is for Scott to go to grad school in Fall of 2008. Hopefully Sandia will pay for him to go to school and also pay him a stipend. We would probably move to Illinois for a couple years so he can attend the University of Illinois. This is one of the main reasons we really wanted him to get hired permanently. It sounds like it may take some time to get into the Special Masters Program, so who knows if it will be the Fall of 2008 when this happens. Scott also has another option of getting his masters here at UNM and working 20 hours a week and receive his full salary. Either way more school is involved. I have to keep reminding myself that it is worth it.

Geo Caching

You may notice some pictures that talk about geo caching and wonder what are they talking about. Recently, Scott & I have taken up a new hobby. Scott needed a GPS for a scouting activity, so in order to convince me that we needed to buy one he found out about geo caching online. This way the GPS doesn't sit around our house and collect dust.



Basically people hide geo caches at certain latitude and longitude coordinates and other people go find them. It sounds pretty simple and easy but that's not always the case. The "treasure" isn't right out in the open, so you have to look around for it or sometimes. Other times a clue is at the the coordinates in order to get you to another place or point to find the cache.

We have been going out a couple times a week and doing this. It's amazing that there are almost 1200 caches around our house in a 50 mile radius. We have ended up in places around town that we wouldn't have otherwise ever seen. We hope to do the New Mexico challenge and find a specific cache in all 33 counties of NM. Of course this will take us some time, but sounds like a fun way to see NM.



Let us know about what you like to do as a family. Since Scott recently graduated and has a 40 hour a week job, we have a lot more time together. We need your suggestions!!

New York, New York

In little over a month we will be headed to The Big Apple. Sandia is sending Scott there for some training for five days and I have decided to tag along. I am a little apprehensive about traveling on an airplane with a 5 month old, but have decided we're not going to let her hold us down.

We will be staying at the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel New York. (One of those places I don't feel like I fit.) We haven't quite figured out what we are going to do when Scott isn't in training. Neither one of us have ever been to New York; any suggestions would be great.

Luckily Scott's project leader's wife and their son are going so during the day I will have somebody to run around with. I'm not sure I would want to wander around New York City by myself with a baby. I have probably watched way too many Law & Order episodes.

After New York we are taking a train to Pennsylvania to see some of my family for a few days. We are then continuing on to Philadelphia for a day so we can see the Liberty Bell and Scott wants to eat a Philly Steak sandwich in Philly.

The other question I propose to our loyal readers is, what is the necessities to pack for a baby? Can I get away with packing two outfits and washing them out by hand? I'm thinking about the limits on luggage flying and trying to figure out if there is going to be any room to pack myself some underwear.

P.S. New pictures have been posted. Some of them maybe repeats that you have seen before because Scott didn't realize that I had posted pictures from his graduation and Ami's blessing. Anyhow, enjoy.

Ami vs Chase

I think we have a hot tempered child. She definitely lets you know when she wants something and she wants it now.

We spent this past weekend with Steve & Michelle. Chase, their baby has a whole lot different disposition than Ami has. He seems like he can sit in his bouncer for hours and be as content as a cucumber. Not Ami. As she has gotten older she can sit and watch you for about a half hour or forty-five minutes, but that is pretty much the max. And she doesn't want to sit there and stare off into space. You have to be up doing something so she can watch you. It's amazing the difference between the two babies. There's six weeks difference in age and definitely differences in personalities. Ami will probably be bossing Chase around as soon as she learns to talk.

The past couple mornings Ami has managed to roll onto her tummy. She doesn't realize what she has done because she is half asleep when she does it. It is amazing to watch her grow and progress in her motor skills. What miracles little ones are.

Pregnancy Mutations

Every couple weeks I put myself through torture trying on my pre-pregnancy pants. I had another torture session a couple of nights ago. To no avail they still don't fit. I realize it was only three months ago that I was pregnant, but I am only ten pounds heavier than pre-pregnancy but two sizes bigger. Why not one? I will tell you why.

My hips and pelvis are never going to be the same after child birth. As Scott said before that I had child bearing hips, well now I think they are prepared for twins. I guess I had always heard that your bones move to make room for the baby, but I didn't realize that they stay that way. I am praying that everybody I talk is right. They tell me that it takes about 8 or 9 months to get back to "normal". That doesn't mean you will be the same as before.

I have figured out why women get stretch marks during pregnancy. This is Heavenly Father's way to tell you that showing your mid-drift is inapproriate. On the eighth day God said let women have stretch marks during pregnancy so that she will dress modestly. Isn't he such a sly guy? Couldn't he have figured out another way. It doesn't do much for your self-esteem. Not that I am showing my belly off, but I liked it much better without the squiggly lines.

Busy Weekend

Shopping

Ami usually falls asleep and pretty much stays asleep while I am shopping. Well, it seems like since she is older she wakes up in the middle of it and demands to be held. This of course makes shopping more difficult. Instead of pushing the cart, I end having to pull it while my other arm is feeling the burn from carrying Ami.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Costco to pick up a few things and Ami decided to wake up. I tried putting her back in her car seat at check out but to no avail she wasn't having that. I held her and started to unload my cart. The lady behind asked if I needed help. I replied, "Sure." I was so grateful to her for helping me instead of standing back admiring the scenery.

From this kind act I plan on helping other mothers that I see need an extra couple hands and arms.

Bathroom Fairy?

The bathroom is calling out, "Clean me." I continue to ignore it. I'm not sure why I hate cleaning the bathroom. It seems as though I put it off as much as possible. Surely, Scott isn't going to clean it. He despises cleaning the bathroom more than I do. Maybe because he knows how much he has missed the toilet. Just kidding. He seems to have pretty good aim. In the four years that we have been married I can count on one hand how many times he has cleaned the bathroom. His response to that would be the same for me folding clothes. But his statement is untrue.

We have a tooth fairy. Why can't we have a bathroom fairy? Now I see the silver lining of having only one bathroom. But wait if I had two I could just ignore the dirty one for a while and use the clean one. Maybe in the meantime a bathroom fairy would clean the dirty one. A girl can wish.

Teeth Whitening

So, I decided to whiten my teeth last night since we are getting a family picture done tomorrow. I was just going to buy the strips and hope that I had some sort of result by Wednesday. Well, Walmart had Rembrandt 2. You're able to whiten your teeth in 2 hours!! I thought great this will be perfect. It was perfect until I woke up in the middle of the night and my top lip was swollen. I think with the last batch that I put on I had to much and it oozed out onto my inner lip.

Needless to say that put a damper on my sleep. All I could think about is canceling our photo appointment or else I would look like somebody that just got collagen shots. Well my lip protrusion has went down. Thank goodness. From now on I will stick to whitening strips or else consult a professional.

Pacifier

Since Ami is taking more naps lately maybe I will have more time to blog. Somehow I doubt that since every time I think I have her figured out she changes. We had a busy morning at the park today. She watched the other kids play from the comfort of my arms. She loves watching other kids and listening to them. They don't even have to interact with her for her to smile at them.



This week have found the joy of Ami taking a pacifier. I can lay her down when she is drowsy and she will fall asleep on her own. It usually takes a couple times of popping it back into her mouth to get her fully asleep, but that is better than bouncing her for 30 minutes or more. I know that there are pros and cons to her taking pacifier, but we'll take whatever the reprecusions (sp?) are later. This has also made it easier for her to go back to sleep in her bassinet in the middle of the night. We are making progress. Yeah!!

Two Month Check Up

Well, Ami just wouldn't be my child if she didn't have a bowel movement right before the doctor enters the room. Almost every time I take her to the doctors office she poos while we are there. Maybe if she is ever constipated I should just pay Dr. Rounds a visit. But I won't need to get a prescription from him.



On a more serious note she is doing great. She weighs 12 pounds exactly and is 23.5 inches long. She is up on her shots. I think she got five shots today. Needless to say she didn't enjoy it. I came home and gave her tylenol to ease the pain. As I was leaving the doctor told me she was healthy according to her cry.



In the past couple days she has really started to coo and laugh. We will have to post the video of her and Scott sometime soon. It will need to be edited, because I am sure your not interested in watching 15 minutes of it. It fun to see her reaction to the crazy things as parents we do to make them laugh. She also has decided to take a nap on a regular basis every day, instead of a cat nap. Now I am sure that will change this week, but I can hope.



Everything else is going well. As you can see Scott has put a countdown till he graduates. It is fun for me to be able to go the Relief Society activities during the week since I'm not working. It is amazing how busy a baby and the house will keep you. I thought I would have all this extra time. Nope. It is nice to be on my own Ami's schedule where time doesn't really matter.



I hope to be able to put up some pictures this evening. We'll see if Miss Ami will allow me though.

Developing

I feel bad that I haven't written a post in so long. It seems like life has become much more hectic since Little Miss America made her appearance on the scene. Imagine that! We have had so much fun with her. I can't wait until she learns a few tricks. So far all she can do is poke herself in the eye and pull her own hair. It is really amazing to see the development and progress she makes each day.



So Becky has left me twice since Ami was born. Apparently, I'm not a very pleasant person when I have impending projects. I think it has been nice for her to get away and go visit both her parents and my sister for a few days. I sure missed my girls though. It did help when trying to get projects done though. It's not fun to go back to being a bachelor after having such a wonderful wife take care of you! I don't think she is going to cut me so much slack once school is done though.



This past weekend was really nice. Last week I had a major project due in each of my three classes, so it was very stressful. However, from Thursday until today we have been able to take it easy. I think it is just the calm before the storm. I really enjoy being able to come home from work and not have to worry about getting homework done. Only four weeks left, but who's counting!



On Sunday we went and had Easter dinner with Kate and her parents. It's become a tradition that we really enjoy each year. It was definitely different this year as we had to make sure that Ami received her required amount of attention during dinner. Kate's Mom at one point said, "You really do have to eat in shifts." Unless she's asleep, she doesn't seem to want to let us eat in piece.



Shortly after she was born, Ami started sleeping in our bed. I figured it was better to have three people sleeping in it than none. It seems to work well for Becky because she can feed Ami without much trouble during the night. I don't ever hear either of them (I sleep like a rock) so it works great for me! The past couple of nights however we have tried to get her back in the habit of sleeping in her bassinet. Becky told me that she slept until about 6:30 in the bassinet, only waking up once during the night. Hopefully we aren't too far from her sleeping all the way through the night in her bassinet.



I think she is starting to realize that her hands belong to her. Occasionally I will catch her staring at her hand as if she is trying to figure out how to make it move with some sort of control, instead of simply flailing it around. Every once in awhile she manages to get it in her mouth and enjoys sucking on her finger, thumb, or fist, whichever makes it in. Hopefully she will gain some control before she blinds herself!



We sure enjoy reading the blogs of our family and friends out there. It seems to be a great way of keeping up with everyone. Let us know if you have a blog that we may not know about so we can keep up with your family!

Ah Hah

My Heavenly Father knows me very well. Every time I seem to hit a rough patch he puts a scripture in front of me that gives me an ah hah moment. (I'm not sure on the spelling on that.) Last night as I was reading my scriptures to check the box off for the day, Heavenly Father had something else in mind for me. I was reading in Jacob 4 and came across these two versus:



9 For behold, by the power of his ^aword ^bman came upon the face of the earth, which earth was ^ccreated by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the ^dearth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?

10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to ^acounsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in ^bwisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.



In life it seems like we think we know what is best for us. We think we can handle things fine without any help. We try to turn the will of Heavenly Father into what we want. The perfect example of this was with Joseph Smith and the translation of The Book of Mormon when Martin Harris wanted to take some of the pages to show others. Eventually Heavenly Father gave in and allowed it, with a horrible outcome .



How many times do we repeatedly ask for the same thing to get the same answer? We are hoping Heavenly Father will give in. This happens in earthly family relationships too. I remember as a teenager asking my parents over and over to do something. Sometimes they would give in, but I would only end up getting in trouble or didn't have a good time.



My ah hah moment was not only not to try to change the will of the Father, but that I need to counsel with him more. I need to communicate with him as if he were sitting beside me. (Now, Scott would say I need to do better than that. Scott thinks I have issues with communication. He is probably right.) This is something I knew before but needed to be reminded of. Thank you Heavenly Father.

Ah Hah

My Heavenly Father knows me very well. Every time I seem to hit a rough patch he puts a scripture in front of me that gives me an ah hah moment. (I'm not sure on the spelling on that.) Last night as I was reading my scriptures to check the box off for the day, Heavenly Father had something else in mind for me. I was reading in Jacob 4 and came across these two versus:



9 For behold, by the power of his ^aword ^bman came upon the face of the earth, which earth was ^ccreated by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the ^dearth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?

10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to ^acounsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in ^bwisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.



In life it seems like we think we know what is best for us. We think we can handle things fine without any help. We try to turn the will of Heavenly Father into what we want. The perfect example of this was with Joseph Smith and the translation of The Book of Mormon when Martin Harris wanted to take some of the pages to show others. Eventually Heavenly Father gave in and allowed it, with a horrible outcome .



How many times do we repeatedly ask for the same thing to get the same answer? We are hoping Heavenly Father will give in. This happens in earthly family relationships too. I remember as a teenager asking my parents over and over to do something. Sometimes they would give in, but I would only end up getting in trouble or didn't have a good time.



My ah hah moment was not only not to try to change the will of the Father, but that I need to counsel with him more. I need to communicate with him as if he were sitting beside me. (Now, Scott would say I need to do better than that. Scott thinks I have issues with communication. He is probably right.) This is something I knew before but needed to be reminded of. Thank you Heavenly Father.

No Green Chile While Nursing!!

I'm not sure where to start since my last blog. It's amazing the changes that Ami has gone through in the last couple weeks. She smiles quite a bit and occasionally coos. She now grabs onto my shirt and won't let go. She seems to try to take everything in her sight in. She's trying to understand the world she has been born into. I know, I know that there a lot more cool things to come. You have to remember I have never been around babies. So, if it seems crazy that I am amazed by these little things that is why.

I went to visit by parents for a couple days since Scott had a project that he was working on. When I was down there I made the mistake of eating a little bit of green chile. Oh, did I pay for that. Poor little Ami cried for three hours to the point she was horse for the next two days. She seems to be a happier baby since I have been paying closer attention to what I am eating. Please let me know if you have encountered something that you eat that has cruel affects on your babies digestive system.

New Pictures Are In

FYI. New pictures have been posted.

One Month Old

Ami turned one month yesterday. We can't be doing too bad she is still alive.



Today we went to Ami's one month check up. The doctor says she is doing wonderful. She weighs in at 10 lbs 4oz. She has good muscle tone and everything else looks great. Oh, and she let everybody in the doctors office know that she was present. She got her second Hep B shot and screamed her head off until we down the street from the doctor's office. Her lungs are definitely fully developed.



Yesterday we went to church for the first time with Ami. Everybody commented on her full head of hair and how perfect she is. I asked Scott if she really is or if people are just saying that. He said nope she really is. He wouldn't be biased at all, now would he. Scott kept her through church. It sounds like she slept most of the time.



I have to tell a story about Scott dressing the Ami to go to church. When I was ironing her little dress I made a mental note that the buttons went in the back. I didn't think this needed to be pointed out. I was sitting there waiting for the sacrament to be passed when I noticed Scott put on her dress backwards. Scott got back from passing the Sacrament and I mentioned to him what he had done. He said he thought it looked a little funny. He ended up changing her and switching her dress around.



Overall things are getting better and easier. She is actually able to sit for awhile in her swing without crying to be held and bounced. Also, I'm not as intimidated to take her out anymore. (Not that we galavanting around everywhere, but we are at least going for walks and to other places for short periods of time.)



If there is any little advice that anyone has about getting a baby out of your bed and still get sleep, please comment. Or you can give advice anything else you want to.

Beginning to Look Like Park Season

Today we went to the park since it was such a nice day. The wind wasn't blowing and it was the perfect temperature. At the park we could see the mountains with a bit of snow on them, while we were outside without jackets on. Ami got to investigate the park more throughly this time. It will probably be a weekly event, so beware of too many pictures at the park. I'm playing with Photoshop to see how I can touch up pictures and make the most of them, so if some of them I posted look a little different I'm just messing around. I didn't do anything to the ones below.

First Adventure

Well, I now know why no one tells you the truth about becoming a parent. If they did less people would do it. Being a parent is really hard. Some of the reality of becoming a parent hit me about my seventh month of pregnancy, but is nothing compared to what it actually is. On the flip side it is rewarding to see Ami in my arms being so content and know that she feels safe.

We have had some help since we brought her home from the hospital. My mom came and helped out for a little over a week. It was such a blessing to have somebody here that has gone through being a new parent. I picked Scott's mom up from the airport yesterday and she will be here till Tuesday.

The excursion to the airport was the first adventure out of the house for Ami and I alone. She shrieked as I put her in her car seat and continued at that tone for a couple of the minutes. The cat came and looked at her to see what was wrong with her. I rocked the car seat a little bit as I was locking up the house and there wasn't a peep out of her again until she got pricked for a blood screening at Tricore. She did really well, thank goodness. Otherwise we may never leave the house. We'll have to see where our next adventure takes us.

Home Is Where Ami Is

We were released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon. Time has flown by ever since.



Now that we are home it has definitely been an eye opener. Ami sleeps great through the day and then decides to make things difficult at night for us to get some sleep. The strange thing is even when I am up at 3 in the morning I don't feel exhausted. I don't know if that will continue if she stays on this schedule.



Trying to breast feed has been a bit stressful, since Ami and I weren't always together in the hospital. It seems like my milk supply is starting to come in, but not enough to satisfy Ms. Ami's appetite. (I think she gets that from her father.) Unfortunately we have to supplement at this time, but hope things will turn around.



Other than that we are doing good. Scott has been a big help along with my mom. A little one can definitely can take up your day. I am also thankful that I'm not going back to work. I'm not sure how working women can do it.



Today we took Ami to her first doctors appointment. The doctor said that we have a healthy little girl. We asked him if there was anyway to switch her night schedule, but he just grinned at us. She got her Hep B shot. Poor girl was just sleep and all of sudden she had a needle in her leg. I almost started crying. She let out a whimper and went right back to sleep. I guess it was nothing compared to her IV in the hospital. We get to go back in a month and get more shots.



Pray for Scott & I that we don't end up with sleep deprivation.

Happy Birthday Ami

Yesterday was Ami's 1st birthday. We had a small BBQ with Ami's "boyfriend," his parents, my mom. Ami had a great time until we sang Happy Birthday to her. She started crying. I'm not sure if it was our singing or if we startled her.



She wandered around dancing to her children's songs CD with her hands full of blocks. She attempted skateboarding in the little wagon that holds the blocks. Not really, she only put one foot in but I can see it happening in the near future. She sat in her butterfly chair and would kick her feet back and forth. Jack and Ami would take turns sitting in the chair.



We got her all wound up with presents and cake and we expected her to just go to sleep. She normally doesn't fuss when we put her down for the night, but last night she had a hard time. She cried for a little while before initially falling asleep and then decided to wake up at 11:30pm to play. She was in her room laughing and babbling. So, new rule. We are having our kids parties earlier in the day.

I posted some pictures and hope to have a video up once we review the tape.

She's here!

America Jean Griffin entered this world at 12:02 am this morning, Sunday February 11 2007. She weighs 7 lbs 15.2 oz and is 20.75 inches long. Oh, and she's gorgeous! Becky did great. We are both really tired, I just wanted to post the basic stats and some photos. Ami is in the NICU because Becky had an infection at the end, probably because her water was broken for so long before Ami was born. It is just precautionary, but it means that we won't be able to take her home until Tuesday at the earliest.



Thank you all for your love, prayers and support.

Stubborn Kid

I don't know if no news is good news in this situation. We've had kind of a rough day since we came to the hospital. The doctor confirmed yesterday morning that Becky's water had indeed broke and sent us to the hospital. They checked us in, ran some paperwork and put the monitors on to see how Becky and Ami were doing. Everything looked good, except that Becky didn't feel any contractions that she was having. They sent us out walking to try and get things started. We walked down to Rt 66 Diner and grabbed a burger (great fries there!) and then walked around. We got back to the hospital around 2 pm. Becky felt like she was having some contractions as we were walking so we both hoped that some progress had been made. They put her back on the monitor and checked her again. Still no dilation, and she still wasn't feeling the contractions.

Well to make a long story short, they gave her some medicine to help the cervix "ripen". By late last night she was having contractions that she could feel but still no dilation. Around 4 am the contractions began to get pretty strong and they gave her some pain medication. It helped a ton and she was able to sleep for a couple of hours. This morning our doctor came on call, which has been really good. We have really enjoyed her bed side manner, and just her in general. She checked Becky again and she finally had dilated to a 1.5.

After the pain medication wore off, we decided it was time for an epidural. When we started this process we had hoped that it wouldn't be needed, but after 24 hours of being in the hospital, several hours of contractions, and very little sleep, Becky was worn out. The epidural has really helped. She has been able to sleep thru the contractions and get some needed rest after being up all night. They also have her on some medicine (Picotin) to help increase her contractions, both in strength and in frequency. Everything seems to be progressing great, just slowly.

Thru all of our stress and pain, Ami is doing great, just stubborn! Seems like there needs to be a little more drama before she can make her appearance in the world. We can watch her heart rate on the monitor and have a pretty good idea of when she is wake and asleep. She has been extremely consistent throughout the whole process. It is great that she is handling everything so well, otherwise we might have to take more drastic measures. Our doctor has said that as long as the baby is fine and Becky is fine, we'll keep plugging along. They are increasing the Picotin slowly in order to get the contractions closer together. Once they are 2-3 minutes apart, they will check her again and see how to proceed.

Hopefully everything continues going well and we can see our little one before the day is out!

Your what broke?

Becky's water broke this morning. It happened at about 7:30. I am officially in full new-dad-to-be panic mode. The doctor wants us to come in at 9:20 and make sure it actually was her water. How do they expect me to sit calmly for a whole hour? I'm going to drive Becky nuts!

Relaxation

We had a small scare at our doctor's appointment on Tuesday. When we arrived everything was great. It was Becky's second day as a stay-at-home-mom, and she seemed to be in good spirits. I was excited to see if she had started dilating (I'm done being patient, although I don't think it will change much). The nurse took Becky's blood pressure and it was really high. Neither of us remember exactly, but I think it was like 150/90. The nurse had her lie on her left side and said the doctor would take her blood pressure again when she came in. Her pressure had decreased dramatically by the time the doctor came in, so we all had a sigh of relief. I didn't help matters much because I asked the nurse what it could mean and she didn't answer me. I then speculated (out loud unfortunately) that her lack of response could indicate there was a problem, but that only the doctor could discuss it with us. Of course, this helped Becky relax immediately, and if you know Becky at all, you know that is a lie. After I saw that she was really freaking out, I tried to get her to do some breathing exercises (thanks birthing class!!) and to get her to relax and laugh a little bit. It must have helped because when the doctor came in her pressure was down.

The doctor asked if she had any other symptoms and basically determined there was nothing to worry about immediately. She did say that we would do an ultrasound at our next visit and that if labor didn't start by a week after the due date they would induce her. Because of the blood pressure being high she's bumped all those dates up by a week. The doctor also said that we should have the baby this weekend because she is on call. Both of us hope it happens when she is there, we really like her. I think it will be easier for Becky if we have our doctor.

Becky is also on a diet of strict relaxation. The doctor told her that if she is up doing something for an hour, to lay down for an hour. I keep joking that it must be nice, but I know that I would go crazy after a day or two. Hopefully we will be in the hospital this weekend. And we can get started on the hard part of this process!

Progress

Scott has become a very anxious father since I told him that I was having contractions last Friday. He says that he is going to take me out walking and for rides on bumpy roads. He went as far as telling me to call the doctor. I told him that we aren�t even close to that point yet. I thought he was supposed to be the calm support person in this. Instead he calls me every few hours and asks me if I have had any contractions. I told him from now on even if I do I�m not telling him.

Yesterday we went to the doctor. I had the privilege of being examined to see if I was dilating at all. I am 50% effaced with no dilation at his point. Everything is getting prepared for Ami�s big arrival. The doctor was able to touch her head.

Scott asked me after the examination how bad it was. Well, it wasn�t as bad as Patty had described. (One of my old co-workers explained it as if the doctor was up to their elbow trying to touch the head.) But it isn�t something that I would want to go through on a regular basis. Even after Scott watching me go through two examinations I still don�t think he quite understands. Just wait until we get the hospital.

'Nesting' is for the birds.

Becky was in full 'nesting' mode over the Christmas break. The funny thing is, she can't do any of it! I offered to get the phone book so she could find a reasonably priced maid service to assist her. Needless to say, she had other plans. I actually enjoyed the painting, carpet shampooing, and other cleaning that we (the term 'we' used very loosely here) did. It was nice, but a little scary, to get parts of our house cleaned that don't see the light of day very often. We were able to get two bedrooms painted and all the carpets cleaned. I am very proud of the nursery, and very excited to put someone in it! Becky's going to have a lot of free time after her last day at work next week, so feel free to drop by and check it out.



Becky is very nervous about quitting work. She's had a job for most of her teenaged and all of her adult life. I keep telling her that any time she runs out of stuff to do, I'll start a list for her. I always forget to keep my camera handy to capture the loving look she gives me.



The other night I was asked to change out the laundry as Becky was washing some clothes to put in the hospital bag for the little tyke. Call me lame, but I thought it was neat to see those little clothes in use. As we start our final preparations, I am enjoying seeing the signs of having a little one in our house. I can't open the door to the nursery without getting a smile on my face. It also seems that I can't go in there without starting to hum or whistle 'God Bless America', or some other patriotic song. Poor kid, she'll never hear the end of it. Good thing she has me for a father, she'll have heard all the jokes before she goes to school, the kids won't even phase her!



We posted a bunch of pictures from our Christmas adventure and our bread-making fun with our new wheat grinder and mixer (thanks Mom and Dad!!), check them out.

Where am I going? What am I doing?

Things around the Griffin residence are getting interesting. In the past few days we have come to the realization that I am losing brain cells. On Saturday we went to Walmart grocery shopping. As I exited the car I instantly felt pressure and needed to go to the bathroom. Scott & I grab our cart and head towards to the bathroom.

I enter the bathroom and think to myself, there aren�t very many stalls in this bathroom. Did they take some out? But it doesn�t look like it has been remodeled. I let the thoughts I was having pass by and entered the stall. While I was in the stall I looked down at the ground and recognized Scott�s shoes. For a split second I thought somebody else had the same shoes. Then, it dawned on me that I was in the men�s restroom. I figured while I was there I would go ahead and finish going to the bathroom and worry about what I would face on the opposite side of the door in a minute.

Well, it could have been worse and it could have been better. Luckily nobody was entering to the bathroom. But there was a burly looking man at the urinal. (I am still trying to get that image out of my head.) He didn�t see me, thank goodness.

I came out of the bathroom and Scott still hadn�t realized what had happened, but I soon updated him. He almost entered the women�s bathroom because he thought I had gone in the other door (the men�s bathroom). Fortunately for him he looked at the sign on the door.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

We made it back safely from Utah. That�s not to say that we didn�t run into any difficulties. We thought an hour delay for our flight out was frustrating. Our flight home was completely cancelled due to fog in Albuquerque. Neither one of us having ever been in this situation before didn�t have any idea what to expect. We get up to the customer service desk and the clerk tells us that we are going to hate her for the news that she has for us. I am glad that I started doing the talking or Scott may have been arrested. I could see it in Scotts' eyes that he was furious. (Not at the clerk but with the situation.) They advised that we could go standby with the other hundreds of people and/or confirm a flight for Wednesday night. This was Sunday night. We decided that neither option was going to work for us and cancelled our tickets back.

Fortunately, Scott�s mom was going to be going to Farmington the following morning to see our newest family member, Chase. We caught a ride with her and Lisa. The ride wasn�t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Between Provo and Farmington we only had to stop two times for me to go to the bathroom. The bonus of all of this is that we got to see Chase too. (I think it may have made me more nervous to realize one of those is inside of me and soon it won�t be.) We spent the night Monday and continued home on Tuesday with a rental car to find two feet of snow in our yard. (Luckily some ward members had cleared our walks and driveway.)

We had a good time in Utah. We saw Temple Square with all of the Christmas lights. It is hard to believe that they don�t miss a branch. We went out to Bennihanas. We had to follow a maze to get Ryan there, but the food and atmosphere were worth it. Scott got a kick out of the fact that Grandma Jones didn�t know what sushi was. The rest of time we pretty much played board games and ate a lot. Scott�s mom decided to wait to open Christmas presents until we got there, so it was like we had two Christmas in one year.

Scott�s family is so fun to be around. There isn�t a serious moment that last too long without somebody making a joke about it. If we didn�t have a sense of humor in this life, I�m not sure how we would get through it.