4 Month Checkup a Month Late

Yesterday we had Lydia's appointment for her 4 month check up. Since we were in Texas all summer we got the all clear from the Dr before we left to wait the extra month. I also called and confirmed that it would be ok timing wise for her vaccinations. When we were told that it would all be ok to wait we made the appointment for when we got back and went in yesterday. The Dr was happy with where she was developmentally and quite impressed with her stats. She was 27 1/2 inches long which is off the charts, and 13lbs 15 ounces which is in the 25th percentile, her head measurement was in the 70th percentile. We already knew we had a long and skinny baby but to have her off the charts had us all laughing.

She did very well with the Dr grabbing at everything he brought near her and he gave the green light for all stage 1 foods so she now gets to try other fruits and veggies. She liked the nurse and was laughing at her for a while until she had to get her shots. Kelvin held her while the nurse quickly gave them to her. Needless to say she was less than happy. After we calmed her down, we packed her up and went home. She didn't sleep for Kelvin while I was at a lunch with my mom and 2 of my sister in laws. When I got home she was sleeping in his arms and did for a full 2 1/2 hours. She woke up starving and I fed her but she was very fussy. I figured that she would get a small fever with her vaccinations because she did last time, but this was different. She wouldn't let anyone else hold her all night and didn't eat well. She looked like she felt miserable and wondered why I or her daddy couldn't make her better. Poor thing! When she finally fell asleep for the night, Kelvin had to go spend the night at a friends house so he could get to an early morning meeting at school while our van was in the shop. He hated to leave her!

This morning I could tell that she still didn't feel very well and again wouldn't let me put her down and didn't eat very much again. She is still miserable and I feel terrible for her. It's so hard watching your baby have to suffer. Hopefully she will be feeling better by tonight. Until then, she clings to me and even gets upset when I put her down to change her diaper or give her Tylenol. I never expected it to last for more than yesterday. At least Kelvin will be home soon so we can get a few small things done before we move into our apartment on Friday.

After her shots. Such sad eyes. It's like she is saying "why did you let them do that to me?"

First Rice Cereal

On Monday we fed Lydia her first rice cereal. She has been ready for a few weeks to eat solid food but I didn't want to have to worry about that on the trip home so I pushed it off until we got to Utah. She didn't have much of a palate for the rice cereal and like it a lot better when we added the bananas. She is starting to get the hang of it though and I am sure will start to eat a lot better soon when we add more variety to her diet.

"What are you doing mom?"


"Look Daddy!! I'm eating like you!"


She liked having daddy right there and just laughed at him the whole time.


"Not so sure I like this anymore!"


"Man! Give me back my banana."

It's Great To See Family

The first night we got to my parents everyone came over to see us and the baby. Lydia was obviously not very happy that night as her schedule was off and she was very tired but she has since gotten a lot better and has been excited to see people. The cousins were very excited to see her again and were sad when she had to go to bed early.

First time on the grass. She wasn't sure what to think so she held on tight to Grandpa.


"I think I remember this."


Can it really be true that my little brother grew taller than my husband over the summer?


"I remember you!"


So much fun having lot's of kids around.


I can't believe how big this kid has gotten, with the blondest hair and the bluest eyes.


Rachel, Samantha and Jayce.

Road Trip!

The day finally came and we made the long drove from Texas back to Utah. We left at 3am on Friday morning and got to Gallup New Mexico at 5pm that night. We then left at 5am the next morning and pulled into my parents house at 1pm. The drive was SOOOOOO much better in the van and Lydia did so well. I must say that the van was worth getting if only for the drive home. I was able to crawl in the back and sooth her or feed her when she needed it and then I could get back in the front seat with Kelvin when she was asleep. It was heaven! We slept well in the hotel and got a great start in the morning. We were all so glad when it was over, Lydia especially. So now we are here and everything is in order for our new apartment. We looked at it yesterday and are really excited about it. It looks great and has brand new carpet which is so nice since we are going to have a crawler and walker before we leave back for Texas permanently. It's great to be home and see all my family again!

Lydia slept really well at the hotel. She really liked the bed there. (We sandwiched her in with our bags and then put pillows over them so she wouldn't get hurt or roll off the bed.)

Keeping Baby Happy While Packing

You have all seen how much Lydia loves the phone. All babies I think are fascinated with everything they see that they can't have. So when I had to pack for the trip back to Utah, I had to improvise. It's really hard trying to entertain a 5 month old when you are packing and trying to get everything in order. Thus comes the improvisation and basically giving her anything that would keep her entertained for a while.

"Are you sure I can have this phone mom?"


"Hey! It's a picture of me!"


"Now how do I call Daddy?"


"Oh well. It tastes better anyway."


Don't worry, I didn't let her have the phone for too long so she didn't have enough time to ruin it by sucking it to death!

Bragging Rights

I need to take a few minutes and brag about my incredible husband. As many of you know he is smart, very smart. For his senior project he and a few other people have been working on building a rocket. Yes an actual rocket that will get into the outer edge of space before it's decent back to earth and that is after it has reached MACH 5! They have been working on this for a little over a year already which has been necessary considering everything that has to be done (this is no small project). This is also history in the making. Never before has a university launched a rocket into space built by it's students in the WORLD! (Impressed yet?)

This summer he has been working on getting funding for the actual project as it is going to be costing a pretty penny. Unfortunately not many businesses in the Salt Lake community have been willing to donate. The team was afraid that they would have to do all the engineering work on paper alone stating how they would have launched it instead of being able to witness and be a part of such a feat. Luckily Kelvin is pretty sure that he might have just secured some substantial funding for the project. So when he and Brandon (the team leader) were getting everything together, Brandon told him some pretty interesting news.

This last year a few of them (including Kelvin) spent an entire month working on the code that would determine how much fuel the rocket would burn with how they were going to build it via particular specifications of the rocket. Kelvin told me in a regular voice that apparently they stumbled on a better and more efficient way to burn fuel in the engine. Um...HELLO!!!! They literally discovered how to make the rocket go farther on less fuel and he's acting like it's no big deal. They realized they had come up with something unique when Brandon was going over some of the code and figured out that it was different when he was comparing it to code from other rockets (I think from the military but could be wrong). I can't tell you how proud I am of him and the entire team. They have worked VERY hard and I am so excited to think that they will have the chance to see there hard work realized not to mention the excitement of what they have done.

The Last Supper......Sort Of

On Saturday night we decided to do one last shindig with the family which ended up being dinner. With the weather being so blasted hot this summer we haven't been able to do the normal fun outings that we usually do throughout the summer and have had to stick to low key things inside. But we thought that we needed to do one more thing before we all leave on Friday so we packed up and headed out to Olive Garden. I love the Olive Garden personally and was really excited to go there since it had been a couple of years. We were seated about the time Lydia normally goes to bed so I was prepared to be walking around with her or sitting in the car the whole time, but for a while she was content just to be standing up. After a little while Brandon held out his arms offering to take the baby. I looked startled for a minute because he usually doesn't want to hold the baby. When I asked if he was sure he smiled and nodded his head so I handed her over to him. She was great and he had that magic touch that put her right to sleep. I thought Lisa was going to cry when she saw that Brandon was holding Lydia and when I told her that he offered I really saw the tears coming on. It was a really sweet moment.

We were seated in the most perfect spot against the wall with a short fence of sorts almost closing us in. We felt like we had a little private venue in the restaurant.


Lots of smiles. The few times we have been out to eat this summer Krystal always seems to get the biggest plates which makes us all laugh because she eats the least.


We are going to miss these guys A TON when we are back in Utah. Thanks for hanging out with us guys. We sure do love you!


The happy parents to have their whole family with them. It was a great summer.


And then there is us! I was just thrilled to be out of the house and Gregory was thrilled to be eating out. It was a win win situation.


The man with the magic touch. I think he is getting excited to have another little baby around the house.

Dreams and Chocolate Donuts

For a few weeks now I have been craving chocolate donuts. Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE donuts! They are my weakness. I have been really good though and even though I have wanted them, I have resisted the temptation. Well, apparently that craving got a little carried away. Last night I had a crazy dream about getting up early and walking around the store trying to figure out what donut I was going to get. When the time hit 7am in the dream I realized that that was when Lydia was going to wake up but then thought that she would cry enough and Gregory's family would hear and figure out that I was gone and feed her. When the time hit 7:45 I decided that I just needed to get a dozen so everyone could have some. When I went to pay for them I was told I could not buy them because I had forgotten to return a cell phone. So I stormed out of the store upset that I had just spent 2 hours trying to get the perfect donuts and then I couldn't even have them. When I walked outside, I didn't know where I was. I woke up in the dream and realized that I had been sleep walking and had to call Maritza to come and pick me up. When I wok up woke up it was to the restless noises of my baby indicating that she was hungry. I got up quickly to make sure that she was there and that I was really there because the dream lingered on for a bit.

When I told Gregory about the dream he laughed because he knew that I had been craving chocolate donuts for a while but have been good and not gotten them. So when he came home from work he surprised me with a dozen donuts (mostly chocolate)!! Isn't he the best ever!

A Little Fun

Last night I was playing around with Lydia before she went to bed and she was being all silly so I pulled out the camera. She has started to make this face where she pushes her lips together and opens her eyes really wide, Gregory thinks it quite funny. When I pulled out the camera I captured it pretty well I think.


Then after rolling around a bit she was on her tummy on me. I turned the camera on her and said "say cheese!"

First came the look of "oh my gosh, again?!"


Then she stuck her tongue out at me and continued to do this every time I said "say cheese".


When I went to do laundry this morning she was awake from her nap so I took her with me. I placed her on the washer while it was still running so she got a little vibration massage.

"I think I like this."


"Oh yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about."

Saturday in Athens

Gregory has an Uncle who lives in Athens Texas and owns 100 acres of land there. We love to go visit them when we can (it's a 2 hour drive) and play on their land. We go every summer and this summer they had a new addition of a swimming pool. They have a pond you can swim in but I have some issues with swimming in water like that so we were excited about the new swimming pool. They have some great 4-wheeling trails in the back of their property, but it's also great to just ride the 4-wheelers around the property it's so beautiful there. They have horses, cows and even a donkey. It's a great place to go relax and have a great time! We sure do love Larry and Michelle.

The two of us on a 4-wheeler out on our ride.


First family ride, the baby loved it.


Pool time!


It was so hot we didn't last very long outside. The water had gotten pretty warm too.


The boys lounging around having a great time!


She found her feet a couple weeks ago and now has started to put them in her mouth.


Say cheese!


Kisses from cousin Isabella.


Thought it would be fun to pull Isabella's hair.


Lydia thought it was the funniest thing ever. Isabella was less than amused!


We also found out this weekend that my Dad has been suffering from a serious staph infection in his knee. No one knows how he got it but it has been very painful. On Saturday I found out that it had spread from his knee to his ankle and the Dr's were talking possible surgery and having him admitted to the hospital if it didn't get drastically better by today. I was getting really worried and ready to buy a plane ticket home depending on the update today. The news came back good as the swelling in his leg is WAY down and the Dr's now have a more positive outlook. They did find out that he was allergic to the intensive IV antibiotics that he has been going into the hospital for all weekend so they stopped those. He has been on the IV antibiotics as well as the highest dose of oral antibiotics you can take and a heavy duty painkiller. He is still in a lot of pain and we are not out of the woods yet, but it doesn't look like it will get much more serious. We will find out on Tuesday but I am just so thankful that things didn't take a bad turn like they were leaning towards. With a bad staph infection there is a possibility of losing your leg or even your life. There is also still a possibility that I will have to fly back home to Utah to run the station while my dad is out of commission if the Dr says on Tuesday that he is not cleared to get out of bed yet, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. I am just thankful for his health returning.

New Me

After having the baby and having more weight to lose, I have been feeling very old. I felt frumpy and boring and felt like I literally looked 5 years older. After asking Maritza and Lisa if I did look older they reassured me that this was a normal emotion that women can go through. Lisa told me that I just needed to cut my hair. One of the things I have loved about myself is my hair and how long it was. The problem is that even though it is long, I have no time or energy to do it. It always goes up in a pony tail or something pulled back and I feel like I look the same as I have for years. The thing is that I have had the same style of hair for years. Even if I cut it, it would be the same style just shorter. So I took Lisa's advice to heart and even listened to her when she said I needed to do something totally different. On Friday while Gregory and I were out running errands, he decided that I should just get my hair done that day. So we went to the salon that his mom and sisters get their hair done and I got a stylist named Roxy. I was very nervous but showed her the pictures that I liked of hair styles completely different from mine. The three pictures were similar but there was one that we both liked the best. I was so nervous the entire time but knew I HAD to do something different with my hair. My stylist took a before and after picture because she likes to have them when people do their hair drastically different from before. I wish we had done a before and after picture as well but didn't think about it until too late. The whole time I held my breath but started to get excited toward the end. When Gregory walked in he had to do a double take. Lydia smiled at me right off and knew who I was which was great since I was worried that she wouldn't recognize me.

So I now have much shorter hair (they cut off about 8 inches) and longer bangs that swoop over to the side of my face. It has been thinned and straightened and I LOVE it! Gregory loves it too. I was on cloud nine the whole day I loved the way I looked. It was just what I needed to feel good about my appearance again.









At the end of the day we took family pictures again from a friend of Gregory's dad in the ward. We got all dressed up and I was feeling like a million bucks until the lady asked me to straighten my shirt and then lift up my head in an awkward position. She then told me "I know that you have just had a baby and when we have babies we have more weight on us then we would like so this is to lengthen the neck ....." I stopped listening after that thinking "Did she actually just call me fat?" My bubble was deflated!!! She could have just told me that my shirt was bunching up and it needed to be fixed. Really didn't need the long harsh explanation. I have since recovered form that comment but couldn't believe that someone would say that. Oh well. I am doing everything I can be doing to lose the weight and I can't do more than that. But I have also since decided that I am not going to let a comment like that ruin how happy I am at how far I have come and hard I have had to work to get to the point I am at right now. So for now I am just excited about my new look and look forward to looking better with every passing day!

Talking With Daddy

When Kelvin is on his way home from work he usually calls me and we chat for a little while or as long as the baby will allow us. So one day I thought to let him say hello to her. She gave me the funniest look while Kelvin was saying all sorts of stuff in the phone. She looked around the room to find him and after a little bit she started giving one of the biggest smiles I have seen. So now most everyday she talks to her daddy while he is on his way home from work and she still loves it. I haven't been able to capture the smile because when the camera comes out her smiles seem to go away, but trust me when I say it is very sweet! I did however capture quite the expression on her face.

I just love this look on her face.


"It's daddy!!!"