Shout Hooray!

Chris had a birthday, shout hooray! He turned 29 yesterday, and we sure had a great day! He got to sleep in, spend lots of time playing with Emma, and some time playing his new-ish video game with some friends online! We went out to dinner at Red Lobster (his choice) where I willingly ate fish for the first time ever at a restaurant (that I remember at least). 

We were going to go see a movie, got as far as buying the tickets before we walked in and noticed that the only seats left that were together were in the front row, so we got a refund and came home early. We ended up watching something from Netflix and eating the candy that we had bought to take to the movies.

My Tilapia with steamed veggies

Chris's lobster lovers platter or something like that. The pasta was DELICIOUS

Emma helped hold a pen so I could write her name in a card, and then I let her do whatever she wanted in it. I think it's AWESOME, and Chris loved it. It was his favorite card (no offense to the others who sent him a card) and I caught him looking at it a few times throughout the day.

Goals Revisited

Now that we're 1/4 of the way through the year I thought it would be good to revisit my goals!

In 2014 I want to:

1. Read The Book of Mormon 

2. Make 12 pages for Emma's Quiet Book

3. Have 15 File Folder Games completed

4. Read 12 books for fun

5. Take Emma to Story Time regularly
6. Lose the rest of my pregnancy weight

7. Read to Emma every day

8. Do 5 sewing projects 

9. Be a better Visiting Teacher and actually visit my sisters instead of phone calls/letters

10. Participate in the challenge our RS Pres gave us recently to work on Personal Progress


So to check in...
1. I'm on track to finish around October 1st
2. I have 4 1/2 pages done. I'm working on 2 more as well!
3. I have 16 done!
4. I've read 13 books so far
5. Can't say I "regularly" go, but we just started going to story time at the library that is a 5 minute walk from our house. They added on a new childrens wing last summer and have a new children's librarian and it is FANTASTIC now. Emma is definitely young, but I want to expose her to books as much as possible!
6. I'm working on this. I have a new accountability partner that I text every day to tell her if I exercised that day, and check in on other goals we each have set. One of us is focusing on eating more veggies, the other is focusing on drinking only water. It's nice to know that Jenny is waiting to hear from me.
7. We read Doggies (by Sandra Boynton) and The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle) each several times a day. I also try to read other books too.
8. I've done bean bags, am working on hooded towels and also her I-spy bags.
9. Wouldn't ya know, right after I wrote my goals they changed my visiting teaching assignment, and now one of the sisters I am assigned to visit is making this goal so difficult for me! We are trying so hard with her, but I've decided that if she doesn't want us to visit her in person I'm still accomplishing my goal if I reach out to her.
10. Still working on this one too! I've figured out which value experiences I want to work on, and assigned myself one a month, and so far I'm working hard on it!

Quiet book

Over the last week or so I've spend some time working on Emma's Quiet Book. I'm using this book which has made it less difficult, and way cute! These are the pages I've been working on.

The Seasons Tree:

This tree was a BEAST to cut out. I accidentally cut one of the branches off, but decided you couldn't really tell so I didn't take the time to redo it. I'm just glad the tree didn't need to be sewn on, I can't imagine cutting that thing out and then having to sew it. You trace it onto wonder under, iron that onto felt, cut the felt out, peel off the paper backing of the wonder under, then iron the tree to the background (a heavy Pellon). Ironing is definitely the way to go! Eventually I'll finish the snaps. It will have flowers, autumn leaves, and spring leaves that can be snapped onto the tree. Those things are stored in the grass. 

The Pond Scene

When I first saw this page I KNEW I wanted to make it. I want a quiet book that has function, not just cute things... and this page was exactly what I wanted! The sun, cloud, bird, rabbit, tree, duck and fish all button on and off. This is the first page I did from start to finish on my own, and I am super happy with how it turned out, except that I sewed the birds button too high so the wing goes off the page. That will be a quick fix next time I have time to work on it.

I've been working on a few other pages as well-- a temple page (like this one) and a Memory Match Game. I'm waiting for my rotary cutter and mat to come from Amazon later this week before I finish the memory game... I know I couldn't cut the big rectangles out even enough and it would drive me nuts!

I'm super excited to see her quiet book come together now!

I also have been getting a few more "little things" to put into her I-spy bags, and will probably be finishing those up pretty soon! I LOVE pulling my craft stuff out now after Little Miss's bed time!

10 months

Emma is 10 months now! Oh my goodness, I can't believe how fast time goes! I have no clue how much she weighs or how tall she is, but I'm sure she's grown some more since her 9 month appointment!

Today we went outside to throw something away right as the garbage men were coming. She was enthralled by the big loud truck, and laughed and waved when she saw the garbage men. They were really nice and waved back to her which she thought was really fun. I started turning around to walk away before it was gone and she got upset, so we stood on the driveway watching the truck stop about 4 more times before it finally turned off our street. I imagine we'll become friends with the garbage men now, just like we are friends with the mail man!

Emma often says something that sounds a lot like "go go go". It's the only real word she says, although sometimes when she is mad (like when she doesn't want to take a nap) I swear I hear her yell "mom" from her crib. 

This past week it was finally warm enough to go outside! Emma loved sitting/laying outside on our fun jean quilt (and I love thinking about the sister/bro-in-law/nieces/nephews who once wore the jeans that the quilt are made of!) and playing with leaves. She liked to crumble them up and then get a new leaf to play with. She was really excited when cars or trucks would drive by and she would watch til they were too far to see anymore!

She still is sticking her tongue out a ton! In this picture she is up on her knees, about to try standing. She is really trying to get up into standing position, but often needs a little help. She loves to practice pulling herself up on my legs if I lay down on the floor.

Emma is a GREAT clapper now. I know this picture is blurry, but it's a fun action shot! If she hears other people clap she will clap along. I think it's funny when she's playing, and I have the tv on and she starts clapping because someone on tv claps. She's not even watching the tv, but if there is clapping she joins in! She also is pretty good at clapping when we ask her to, unless her hands are busy. We're working on high-fives (which she thinks are hilarious), and she's getting pretty good at "how big is Emma?"

One of her latest tricks (this morning) was that she crawled over to the tv stand and pulled herself up on the shelf and started grabbing the apple tv. I told Chris this day would come and he didn't seem to believe it. We get to keep an extra close eye on Emma now in the living room! 

Projects to Finish

One of my big hopes for 2014 is to finish things that I've started. Specifically crafty things. This list is really just to help me remember what projects I need to tackle, although not all of them are crafty. And some of these projects haven't been started, but I have purchased the supplies for.

1. Quiet Book
2. File Folder Games
3. Wreath (yarn, and felt flowers)
4. Plaque with Pres. Monson's picture from Super Saturday
5. I-Spy bags
6. Hooded Towels
7. Moving files to fire/flood-proof case
8. Scrapbook our wedding (digitally?)
9. Scrapbook Emma's first year (probably digitally)
10. Finish temple work for the 12 family names I found last year



Other projects I want to do:

1. Curtains for Emma's room

New Beginnings

Last night I had the privilege of attending New Beginnings with the Young Women from our ward. Before you get confused, I don't have a calling in Young Women's, but I will be spending some time with the YW throughout the year.

In our YW, they like to have a year long project--typically they have it count for a Personal Project Value Project. Last year the girls learned about gardening, and planted a garden in our community garden. It gave them a chance to learn a great skill, and also to work together towards a common goal. I don't know how it all turned out since I got released from YW when Emma was just a few weeks old, but I do think they learned a lot.

This year they are calling the project "My Story". The church has a big push for family history work, and especially for us recording our own history. At the end of last year each adult (and maybe youth?) in our ward that attended a specific combined 3rd hour meeting received a copy of this booklet called My Family. It gives you spaces to record the names and important dates of your ancestors. It gives you places to record parts of your family story.

This year for their year long project, the young women will be learning more about family history, and will be encouraged to record their own story. At New Beginnings the YW President, Lauren, asked what story they would be leaving behind if they were to die tonight. Someone would be able to find their Instagram/Facebook/Blog, and is what they would find the story you really want to leave behind? Have they only shared selfies? Or have they been super negative, only posting things like "worst day ever"? Throughout the year the young women will take the time to record their stories.

This is where I fit in. The presidency is pairing each young woman up with an older sister from the ward. We will spend the year getting to know each other, and helping each other record our stories. I get to go to mutual once a month and help the girls figure out how to tell their stories. I get to tell them my own stories, and together we will be adding our stories to familysearch. We will be adding pictures as well.

Together we get to discover who we are, and who our ancestors were. We will spend time together working on family history, with the hope of finding family names to take to the temple at the end of the year. We also are working together to help the girls realize that Relief Society isn't scary, and that they can fit in with us when they turn 18.

I'm excited to be associating with the YW again! I have missed the girls. Last night they came over to the table I was sitting at to introduce themselves to the other RS sisters who will be mentors, and when they got to me they all were like "Marci! We already know you!" and excited that I was there. I'm excited to be with them, but also to be able to get to know the other mentors too!

I'm not sure exactly what all we will be doing throughout the year, but hopefully as we work on things I'll take the time to blog about them. I want to do better at recording "my story" here on my blog, since it is the main place I use as a journal. I may go back and write posts with past dates to record things that I recorded on Facebook (like the first night that Emma slept through the night, or when she started crawling) so there may be a ton of new posts, but that will be back in the archives. I'm excited at the thought of filling in the gaps on my blog!

Sleep!

Last night Emma pretty much slept from 6:30-4:45. She did wake up briefly around 2:30, but put herself back to sleep before I even went in to her room to help her calm down.

This just proves that Emma really CAN sleep through the night, she had just gotten into some bad sleep habits after her ear infection/teething/travel/cold/flu that has been happening the last three months.

Tonight Chris isn't even going to wear earplugs (he's worn some the last several nights so that her crying as she learned to put herself back to sleep wouldn't keep him up all night).

And I've decided that 10 hours of sleep for a 9 month old is pretty good, and I am happy to go in around 4:30-5 and change her diaper and feed her (for now at least).

9 months

I'm a few days late, but this week has been crazy! Emma turned 9 months last week (the 16th) and is growing so much! This past month she's really become more talkative, figuring out her "g" sound and often saying ga-ga. It's fun to have her talk more, not so fun when she's screaming. She's become more attached to her pacifier, she's close to cutting some teeth (I can feel them but not see them yet) and her pacifier must just help her. 

9 month stats:

Emma weighs 18 lbs 9 oz (50th percentile)

Emma is 27 inches tall (I think it was around 40th percentile)

At her 9 month check up this week she talked to her doctor quite a bit, showed her how she likes to stand (as long as someone holds her) and showed off how she *finally* holds her own bottle when she eats! She cried as they pricked her finger to collect a blood sample (she's not anemic... although since she still drinks lots of formula I wouldn't have suspected that she was) and again when they gave her a shot at the end. She was really excited when we were talking about all the new foods to introduce to her now, but she didn't like when Dr B and I talked about her poor sleep habits. 

Tuesday night we started some sleep training, under the guidance of the pediatrician. For about 3 months now Emma has been waking up around 11, 2, and 4:30. At first she would be okay if we just gave her a pacifier, but she's gotten to the point where she wouldn't go back to sleep without food. Luckily, she puts herself to sleep GREAT at bedtime, so we didn't have that lesson to learn right now (Dr B said that was a huge bonus for us!). 

Tuesday night was pretty rough. She woke up at 11:30, and finally was asleep around 12:30; then she woke up again at 2:15 and that time didn't go back to bed til I fed her at 4:00. Wednesday she took two FANTASTIC naps, and Wednesday night went much better! She completely skipped waking up at 11! She woke up at 1:40 but didn't go back to sleep until 3:30... probably only because by that point I was ready to go back to sleep so I fed her. Again, Thursday brought fantastic naps! And Thursday night... she woke up at 2, cried on and off for about 10 minutes and was sound asleep by 2:15. At 5 she woke up again, but quickly went back to bed (because again, I fed her...) and we both got some more good sleep. 

I sort of "broke the rules" of the method the doctor gave us since I fed her, but I feel like she has made some GREAT improvements. If I can get her to completely skip the 2:00 wake up now I would be a happy camper! I'm excited at the thought of getting more than 2-3 hours of sleep at a time again!

This week Emma also started taking baths in the big bath tub, not her baby bath tub. I don't have any pictures, but will have to get the ones that Chris took on his phone the other day.  She LOVES the extra space and splashing in the tub! We're excited to find her some fun bath toys soon, since she seems to really love the couple of rubber ducks that she already has!

And now... since you read all that you get some pictures!

Emma sometimes plays in her exersaucer so I can shower. This particular day she was crying when I got out because she couldn't get the cupboard to open very far. She was pretty sad, but it made me chuckle a little.

This little missy loves to play with the balls that came with her Dinosaur Popper toy! 

This month she started getting up on her knees a little, at least when she plays with her Dino.

Nothin like reading a good book! I'm sure Freight Train is great upside down too!

Just lookin at the camera!

My little valentine!

Not the greatest picture, but she's showing you her teeth! She still only has TWO teeth, although there seem to be two more that are close to breaking through!

File folder games

Some day down the road I'll be glad that I have these 16 File Folder Games ready for Emma. There are some simple match the patterns, some counting, a "match the upper case letter to the lower case", some tic-tac-toe, and some match to the outline. There is even a "match this Book of Mormon character to his story".  Most are churchy, others are holiday themed! 

My next project gets to be her quiet book!  

Sickies

We've had a few sick days at our house recently. Chris had a few things going on earlier in the month, mostly allergies we think. Emma came down with a cold. Then she got some virus and a day of vomit and diarrhea was not so fun. Tuesday morning she took 2 baths between 7 & 8 am. We went in to see the doctor to make sure she didn't have anything too serious. I love when you talk to the nurses and they make it sound like your child has the plague or something. But hey, we ran into good friends in the waiting room and that was great, even if they had taken the last available appointment with our pediatrician.

Emma shared the germs with me next, and I'm still working on getting over it. Being sick is never fun, but I'm pretty sure it's worse when you have a baby who can crawl and likes to get into things she shouldn't.

Despite the germs we've had, I feel like I've made good progress in January on my goals...

I did my visiting teaching (well, because of the germs we did some phone visits, we didn't want to share)

I've finished 4 books, am 1/3 done with another and 1/2 done with another. I have 2 more on my nightstand to start later. I like having options! I also like a good series (did you know that The Giver was the first in a quartet of books? It felt more like books 1 &4 went together and 2&3 were separate, but similar enough).

I colored/cut 9 or 10 file folder games and hope to laminate them next month!

I sewed those bean bags.

I've made good progress in The Book of Mormon

 Started a personal progress thing, but you have to do it for 3 weeks, so it's not done yet

And after being sick I'm probably closer to my pre-pregnancy weight, although this was not the way I had intended to lose weight.

I've got great hopes for February--with 2 new sisters to visit teach and my companion finally being back in town we can hopefully go meet these new sisters. I want to get those ffg's all done and tucked away in Emma's closet. I want to finish the 2 books I'm currently reading. And maybe make some progress on the quiet book. But then again, February is the shortest month... and Sea World does reopen and I want to go see the sea lions and take Emma to see the fishies!