Six months!

I can't believe that our little Vivian is 6 months old! In the short time that she's been with our family, we have gotten to know her pretty well. For instance, we've learned that she really likes to eat pears, applesauce, red peppers, cucumbers, puffed cereal, and cupcakes (oh, dear). She likes taking baths, being outside, squealing when happy...or bored...or upset, watching Signing Time with Savannah (jab my eyes out now!!!), playing with Ramen Noodles packages, and playing on the floor with and being held by her awesome daddy.

Here are some of the things that she doesn't like: sleeping all night, being on her tummy, having her hair pulled (Savannah), being stepped on (Savannah), having her toys taken away (Savannah), and waiting to eat (Mommy), sitting in a dirty diaper (wouldn't anyone hate that?)

Even though many of the things that make Viv cry originate with her older sister, they are still crazy about each other. Savannah still asks to hold her all the time, and Viv enjoys watching her sister play more than anything else. They sure are cute together!

PS - a friend commented that Savannah always has her mouth open when she smiles for the camera. So, I told her to show me her teeth. Hmmm...now Viv's mouth is open!!

My Best Helper

Savannah Grace is my very best helper. I had no idea someone could enjoy doing chores so much. If she hears me open the broom closet, she races over and insists on sweeping. This usually means that the dirt on the floor gets moved from one end of the floor to the other.

She's also seen a commercial on tv where a mom makes a mess on her bathroom mirror, which she quickly resolves by reaching for nearby disposable disinfecting wipe to clean it with. Savannah doesn't have access to these magic wipes, so whenever she feels that the mirror in the hall needs cleaning, she gets some of Vivian's baby wipes and smears them around on the mirror.


Her current favorite is washing dishes. But in order for a dish to qualify as something she is willing to wash, it already has to be clean. My clean dishes are usually coated with a thick layer of crusty bubbles after being hand "washed".



After so much exhausting work, my happy helper takes a well-deserved nap, and it's my turn to secretly clean up after her helping :)

Blackberries

I love living here in Western Washington where blackberries grow wild everywhere. They don't seem to require a lot of maintenance. Take, for instance, these huge bushes that grow behind our apartments. Our backyard neighbors ignore them 365 days per year, and they still produce what looks like thousands of gorgeous berries every summer. It drives me crazy to look out my window and watch them go to waste, since no one harvests them.


Well, it bothered my dad, too. So, while he was here visiting last week, he slipped out of the house with a grocery bag, climbed up on the retaining wall behind our apartment and started picking any berries that he could reach. Unfortunately, the sprinklers started while he was there and he got drenched!

Here he is all wet and upset that I am taking his picture.

The good news is that we made a delicious blackberry poppy seed cake with what he was able to pick. I did have to supplement it with a few blueberries, because Savannah was eating them so fast that there weren't many left over for the cake :)

Vivian's Blessing Day

My mom and dad were here from Utah this weekend to be here for Vivian's blessing day. It was so fun to have them here! It was the first time they had seen Vivian, so it was really exciting. They had come up a couple weeks before she was born, hoping to be here for the birth, but she had other plans...like coming 3 days late!

Savannah was ecstatic to see Grandma and Grandpa again - and not just because they bring treats and lots (and lots and lots) of presents. I think I may need a yard sale now.

The blessing was very sweet. I was terrified that she was going to cry through the whole thing, because she was very fussy up until it began, then she calmed down and was quiet. What a miracle!

Some Firsts...

Vivian enjoyed her first taste of real food -- a cucumber! We eat a lot of veggies, and she was salivating watching her dad eat celery. So he gave her a cucumber spear, and she sucked on it until there was nothing left but the skin.










A few days later, she was really fussy around dinner time (note her red, swollen eyes) and she finally stopped crying when we gave her some baby cereal. Unfortunately, the better mood didn't last too long, so she was sentenced to a bath and to bed.

And speaking of bed, we got her a new crib! I had been looking on Craigs List for a long time, but couldn't find a decent one for the right price. On Saturday, I found a nice one for $50 - including the mattress, pad and a couple of sheets!!

She has been sleeping in Savannah's room for the past few nights. She still wakes up, but not quite as much. I will put pics up once I figure out what to do with the stuff that was displaced by the crib. Some day, I will have adequate storage.






Even bigger news is that Savannah is now potty trained!!!!! If you have never had to deal w/ diapers (both the mess and the price), you can't fully appreciate the enthusiasm we have at our home. Every time she goes in the potty, you would think we had just won the lottery. We jump up and down, clap, cheer, etc.

Savannah likes to sing, "I'm a big kid now." Every time she says her prayers, she always includes how thankful she is that she goes in the potty. She must have heard that from us.


Probably her favorite part of her new skill is washing her hands afterwards. I've decided to let her make huge bubble messes for now. I think she deserves it! Hopefully, it will eventually replace the chocolate chips we were bribing her with...

It sure is fun to watch our little girls grow and hit milestones! Some day, I will catch them smiling at the same time :)

Quinn the Chess Guy

On Saturday, Hyrum and I were very excited to see our dear friend, Quinn Hubbard! We met when I was working at KPMG...soooo very long ago. Quinn is an excellent photographer and a master chess player, so naturally, we had to take some pictures and play a few rounds of chess.

Well - I didn't play chess, because I get too frustrated, impatient and angry, but Hyrum was up to the challenge. Notice how Quinn has a book that he is pulling his moves from. What a cheater! Actually, he has it memorized and was using it to teach some moves to Hyrum. If you look closely, you can see Savannah's little arm reaching for some veggies...

And here are some of the pictures Quinn took of us:

It's nice for a change to actually be in the pictures. I am usually the one holding the camera.




Quinn - you will need to come back soon. We already miss you!

Happy Birthday Viv!

Vivian is finally four months old! At her checkup, we found out that she weighs 12 lbs. 12 oz and is 26 inches long. That puts her in the 35% for weight and the 95% for height! I think she is going to be tall and thin like her dad and big sister.

I have to admit that I am not very good with tiny newborns. Both of our girls have been high maintenance (Savannah much more than Vivian), and the last few months have been exhausting. Viv was very fussy when we took her places. I spent a lot of the time at church in the mother's lounge trying to get her to stop crying. Whenever I took her to Young Women activities, she ended up crying and I would usually have to leave early. Evenings were particularly hard, because she would cry for at least an hour or two every night, and there were many times I just wanted to get in the car and drive away!

Luckily, the fussiness and long bouts of crying for no apparent reason are fading quickly as she matures and gets into a sleep schedule. She is getting to be a lot more fun with big smiles and giggles. One of her favorite things is to be held by Savannah. She always looks for her in the room when she hears her talking. I get the feeling that they will be good friends.

On a side note, another difficulty of having a newborn is not the newborn, but the sibling toddler. Savannah is very good at waiting until I am distracted with Viv's poopy diapers to get into my makeup and other things that are off limits. I frequently find her in the bathroom racing to try on every lipstick before I discover her. Her latest was accomplishment was washing her own hair. She managed to reach the shampoo and lather her hair. What a mess!