Happy Birthday to . . . ME!

Well, I am now 28 years old, and that to me sounds old! When did this happen? Really, time just seems to get away from me sometimes. Well, today was a good day, last night before heading to bed I stuck some pork tenderloins in two crockpots with onions and Worcestershire sauce over the top and went to bed. This morning our house smelled divine, and then at around 10:00 I took all the fat off and onions and pulled it and stuck it back in with some bbq sauce and let it sit for an hour. Rob came home for lunch and we had pulled pork sandwiches, they were really good. I plan to freeze all the rest so that we can have it whenever.

This evening we went over to my parents house to have some cake, I would have made my own cake, but Kerri told me that you are not supposed to make your own cake. So, my mom made me a lime jello poke cake with whip cream on top. So good! We met at my parents house at 6:30, and I made a wish and blew out the candles.
It was such a nice evening. We had a summer thunderstorm come threw earlier in the day. My mom hooked up the swing for Julie and she took her first ride. She loved it! She would giggle every time the swing would come back in our direction.

She grabs at everything, and she now is opening and closing her hands all the time while staring at them. She does this over and over all day long.

She also has been feeling everything. She will scratch at the wall while I am changing her diaper, and she will rub her blanket in between her fingers. Basically anything she touches she will scratch at it.
She also does horsey rides, just set her on your knee and she will rock like she is riding a horse, except she does all the work, it is so fun to watch! We weighed her on the Wii the other night and she weighed about 17 1/2 lbs. Whoa! Is that why my back is always hurting!
And I ended my day by picking weeds in my garden, basically it is a futile effort, but you have to start somewhere. My goal is just to be able to see the plants we planted, lol, I have got a long way to go. Wish me luck!
In all it was a great day!

5 years!

We celebrated 5 years today, although it seems like much longer. I could not live without this handsome man in my life. Here are some pictures of our years together!

Summer 2004

Fall 2003

Engagements 2005

June 28, 2005

2006

July 2007

November 2008

December 2009

February 2010

We have had some wonderful years together. This last one would be my favorite, good health, good time, and a beautiful daughter. We have been so blessed.
When Rob came home from work he gave me a Butterfinger and some V8 Splash juice. Things he remembers from just after we were married. What a sweetie!
We took Julie and went to Wal-Mart to get a pack n play, and then we ordered take out from Chilis. When we got home, I opened up our take out and my seasoned veggies were not there. Apparently Rob ordered black beans in place of my veggies when I wanted the seasoned veggies and the black beans, with my guiltless grilled chicken sandwich. Oh well, I was sad for a second, then I was over it. While eating I thought my mouth was going to catch fire. I always thought the black beans were what was hot, but the sandwich was smokin hot, my whole mouth, lips, everything have never felt that much heat before. It must have been the honey mustard sauce on the sandwich. Whew! What a sandwich, I might have to wait awhile before I get that again. But, it was good and we enjoyed the evening together. Here's to many more years together.
Love ya, Sweetie!

5 Months

This month just went by so fast. Some of the things Julie has done this month:

-roll from stomach to back, she is really close to rolling onto her stomach.

-eat cereal (if we trick her), that post awhile back of her eating cereal, well it must have been a good day for her because she didn't want anything to do with it after that. So, my sister in law Heidi told us to have Julie hold a spoon while we feed her, and when she opens her mouth to put the spoon in, then we stick the spoon with food in. And, it worked. I don't even need to use the spoon trick anymore, she eats super fast and loves it. Thanks Heidi, she is doing so well!

-scream/grunt when she is overly tired or mad, and when she is tired she gets super giggly. It is so fun to make her laugh right before bedtime when she is tired. You get the best laughs out of her, you also get the best high pitched screams as well.

-gets really distracted while eating, every noise or movement distracts her. When I am feeding her, it has to be quiet. These last couple days my allergies have started to get really bad and I sneeze and constantly have to blow my nose. So, it makes for a long feeding session. But, when those little eyes pear up at me to check out what mommy is doing, it just makes me smile. She is the cutest little girl and has the cutest eyes.

-is getting better at sitting, you can tell from the last post, she is getting stronger everyday. One thing she does to is she is always moving. She is just constantly rocking her body. If you have her on your knee, she will move like she is riding a horse. She will also do that move while you are holding her in any other position. This is especially difficult when you try to get a drink while holding her, your bound to get in all down the front of you if your not careful. She is really figuring out that body of hers.-loves her crinkle book, a three page book that is flimsy and has that crinkly paper sound. She loves it!
-loves her blanket, we use a receiving blanket to put over her in her carseat whenever we go anywhere, once you put that on her she grabs it and brings it up to her face and just cuddles it. Now, even before I put it on her I will hold it up and she will swing her arms out and get so excited just waiting for me to lay it down on her.

-can grab things really well, and switch from one hand to the other

-she has discovered her feet, whenever I change her diaper, her feet are up in the air and she has got a hold of them. I don't think she will be able to get them to her mouth, but she sure loves having bare feet so she can play with those toes.

-she loves to look at the baby in the mirror, and every time I put her up to the mirror she will get excited and just smile. So fun!
And I guess if I want a picture of myself with my daughter, I just have to take it myself. She was super smiley but whenever I snapped the picture she would stop. It is so hard to capture those smiles on camera!

I just can't believe how much she changes, even from day to day. It is simply amazing to watch her grow and see the world around her. So many new things to discover, while I was taking her pictures she was playing with the strings on this blanket and from the looks she was giving me, it must have felt and tasted a little strange to her.

Sitting!

We have been practicing our sitting, and she sat for quite a while today all by herself. She is definitely not to the point where I will leave her, she will get excited and then fall backwards, so I will have to hold my hand behind her to catch her. She is getting there. This next picture is when she fell backwards, I didn't quite catch her in time and so the next one she is not very happy.

She is a great bubble blower!

Four-Wheeling

My husband loves to go 4-wheeling, a few weeks after Julie was born he went down to Moab with my dad for a few days to an ATV Jamboree. He had a ton of fun and then a few weeks after that he went with the elders quorum down to Moab and did some more 4 wheeling. And he goes every chance he can. He has been wanting me to go with him, but I really was not that interested. Just before Mothers Day, he bought a Honda Rincon (for me, so that I will go riding with him), so finally this past weekend I went with him up to Temple Fort. We left Julie with my parents around 10:30a.m. and we headed up the canyon. It took about a half hour to get there and once we got there, we unloaded and got ready. Got our helmets on, gloves on, and he let me drive first (we have two four-wheelers, but I didn't want my own the first time out), so I got on and he got on behind me. We headed out.

The first part of the trail was basically just a gravel road, we kept getting higher and higher up the mountain, and what a beautiful day it was. With all the rain, everything was green and the smell reminded me of girls camp when I was younger. That fresh pine/dirt smell. I drove for about an hour before we switched. What a beautiful place we live in, just gorgeous. With everything I could have been thinking about, my mind was on Julie, and watching the clock (thinking: "how much longer" "are we half way yet" "I need to get back to feed Julie"), goodness girl, just enjoy it. Which I was, since becoming a mother it seems I am planning a few hours in advance. While I was driving, we rounded a corner and there were a lot of trees and the trail was kind of shadowed, and there was a moose that we startled, the moose was on the trail and then when it saw us, started up the mountain and then looked back at us as we stopped and looked back at him. Then he turned and went over the hill until he was no longer visible, kind of cool. We went through a lot of little ponds which was fun. Once we got to the Ranger Station, we stopped and ate lunch. I didn't like stopping, while your riding, you are cool from the breeze of the wind and from the breeze of just moving, and the bugs don't bother you, they just hit you full force, which is why I am glad for helmets(among staying safe also). We ate our lunch, and then there was a group coming down from the trail where we were going to head, they said that there was snow that they couldn't make it through and that we should probably take another route. I was kind of needing to go to the bathroom, but did not want to use the outhouse at the ranger station and didn't want to go in the bushes, so we headed back, I wanted to get back pretty quick, basically wanting to get back to Julie. I left some milk with my parents, but not enough. So, I told Rob that he could drive and to ride like he would normally ride. "Whoa" we definitely rode, I was just holding on for dear life. He can really maneuver that thing. We were covering ground fast, there were a couple places where Rob got off and moved some trees that fell across the trail, he even got to use his wench to move one of the trees.

Basically while Rob was driving, it felt like I was riding a bucking bronco. But I never felt nervous with him driving, because he knows what he is doing. We made it back in record time, although we got stuck behind two trucks near the bottom. We made it down and loaded up, we were so dusty and tired. I can't believe how bounced around I got, but it was fun. I took my helmet off and got in the truck, we made it home around 3:00p.m., we visited my parents for a little bit and then went home, Rob sprayed the 4-wheeler off while I watched Julie inside. As soon as he came in, he took a shower and then I took a shower, and we kind of had a lazy afternoon together. It was a fun day, but I am worn out.

What my day is like!

Usually wake up around 6:00a.m. when Julie wakes up and I feed her and then change her diaper and I take her into wake up Dad. They play together for a little while until Rob has to get up and ready for work. She is usually tired by then and goes down for a nap. This is when I get ready. I usually can get ready and eat breakfast before she wakes up from her morning nap. Anywhere from 9:00-10:00, is when she wakes up from her nap. Since discovering her voice, she will be squealling and talking and sucking on her blanket upon waking up and I go in and slowly look over the railing of her crib where she is waiting for me to peek over, and then she will give you the biggest grin. This is where I get her out and I change her diaper and get her dressed, then we go on a walk and meet up with Grandma. After our walk, we play on the floor and she rolls over and we practice our sitting, and she gives me some great smiles and squeals(more like screaming, she gets LOUD). Sometimes I will just let her play on the floor while I get some things done, and she will talk and make lots of noise and entertain herself for awhile.
While on the floor, we practice rolling over and sitting. Just in the last couple of days since learning how to roll over, she is SUPER close to rolling from back to stomach. She is definitely getting more mobile.

She helps mom strip her bedsheets so that they can get washed. And has fun playing in the pile afterwords.

The Julie starts to get tired, so I get to hold her for awhile, she has started to arch her back to look at things and now when I am holding her and I am talking, she will arch her back and tip her head back to look up at me. I love this, so cute! She is doing it in this picture, although it is hard to take a picture of her when she is so close.

And these are the cute chunker legs I get to look at while she is getting tired, and since the weather is finally warming up, we get to see some more of those toes of hers.
She will then go down for her nap.

When Rob comes home from work, he gets the babe while I fix dinner
After dinner, I mowed the lawn and Rob fixed a part on our fence that came loose during our windstorm we had on Saturday, we put Julie in the stroller, and she plays with her toys. I couldn't resist taking this picture of her feet coming out.

So happy and content, Rob would stroll her around our small little block until I was done mowing, she was getting fussy and she was asleep before he got all the way around.
Then I feed her around 9:00, and we put her down for bed.