Our LIttle Angel

We finally got around to taking pictures of Anna in her blessing dress.  Devin took 300 pictures...literally.  I am glad that I don't have to pay for him to take pictures of her.  She was in a pretty good mood, but it took 300 to get the shot that we really liked.  So after narrowing it down this is my favorite picture.

We also took pictures on Sunday in the dress that Grandma Baldwin gave her for Christmas.  We LOVE the pictures we got on Sunday.  She really is our little angel.

Only 10 Months

I should be going to bed, but I can't resist the temptation to blog right now. You see, for the last 10 months I have been working on a cross stitch for Anna. Right after we found out we were expecting we went and picked out the pattern. I figured I would need all the time I could get to complete such a task. I have never done anything like this before. My mom made a little cross stitch for each of us and I wanted to do the same. Needless to say the pattern I picked out was not the easiest thing in the universe. But that doesn't matter because today I finished it!!!!!!! I told myself that I wanted to finish it before the year was over. So with 4 days to spare it is done. We even went and picked out a frame tonight because we were both so excited. For a first time attempt I feel pretty good about my ten months worth of work. I asked Devin what I should do with my extra time now that this project is complete. He told me I should learn PHP so I can help him with all of the web sites that he does for side work. I laughed and told him I don't think I'll have a hard time coming up with my own projects to keep me busy.

Here is a random cute picture of Anna. She really likes to sit on my lap lately. I often read her stories, but this picture is from when I was working on my Relief Society lesson.

Tradition!

Devin and I have been talking a lot lately about what we want our family traditions to be. We have started something lately that we really enjoy. . . Friday Night Treats. This tradition comes mainly from the fact that we don't go out like we use to. With a new little baby and the desire to stick to our budget, we don't go "out" on Friday nights like we use to. We still wanted to do something fun, so we started Friday Night Treats. We make a fun treat and watch a movie. It has been fun to make different treats and spend time together making them.

I was thinking about what we should make this week and with it being Christmas time I thought we should make gingerbread men. I quickly looked up the recipe and was pleased to find that we had everything that we needed to make them . . . almost. Thanks to a few great neighbors we were able to get some vinegar (weird! I wouldn't think cookies should have vinegar in them) and some gingerbread men cookie cutters.

We had a blast making and decorating the cookies.

Anna...had a great nap.






We have decided that we should make gingerbread men every year the weekend before Christmas.

So today I have two things for people to comment on.

1st: What are some of your families favorite Christmas Traditions?

2nd: Can you guess what the following gingerbread men are suppose to be?

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Yes...all of the above gingerbread men were decorated by Devin. Mine were not nearly as creative as his.

Slow and Steady

My mom got me a really cool book called Slow and Steady Get Me Ready.  I love it because it has an activity for each week from birth to 5 years old.  The teacher in me absolutely loves having fun little activities to do each week.  Another cool thing is that the activities build on each other and teach important skills.  Not only are there activity ideas but it explains why each activity is important and what skills it is helping the child to develop.  I am grateful for good ideas of things to do with a 7 week old baby.  It is fun to see her learning new skills.  The first time I introduce an activity I think "dang, she doesn't get that at all."  But then as I keep doing it each day with her, she learns. Lately she has grown to love her little activity gym that I built.  That is another cool thing about the book.  It gives you ideas and they are all using simple stuff that you have around the house.  Anna just loves looking at the different objects and has even started to play with them.  This is fantastic because mom gets up to 30 minutes of "get stuff done" time.  Though I must say it is pretty fun just watching her.  She has also started "talking" more.  She makes such sweet noises and gets so happy when she makes the bell ring or the other stuff move. 

So any mom out there who is looking for fun simple activities to do with your kid, you should check this book out.

Virtue

I heard yesterday that they have changed the Young Women theme to add "virtue" as one of the values. http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17802,8449,00.html I think it is fantastic! I can't wait to see what the value projects will be like. My big question is....what color will virtue be?

Two VERY GOOD Things

Today I thought I'd share two very good things.
First, on Saturday I had my quilt class in Salt Lake, which means that I could either take Anna with me or leave her with Devin. I decided to leave her with Devin since quilt class really isn't too kid friendly. I left a bottle with him for emergency purposes. I fed Anna right before I left and hoped all would be well until I came back. With the exception of one fantastic "blow out" diaper things went well. She didn't even get hungry. We decided to try the bottle when she was hungry just to see if she would take it. I am happy to report that she just sucked it up!
Very good thing #1 is that my baby is happy with a bottle which means that Devin and I can run away to the temple as soon as we find a free evening. Way to go Anna!

Second, today I had my 6 week appointment with my doctor. The fantastic news is that I am healing well and I "no longer have any limitations on any activities."
Very good thing #2 is that I get to run again. I get to do sit-ups again.
Right now the sun is shining and I want so bad to go run outside, but Anna is sleeping. I'll run later...trust me I've been itching to run for SO long. The elliptical machine just doesn't give you the same "work-out-happiness" that running does.
Being able to do sit-ups again reminds me of New Years Eve 1999 to 2000. I was on my mission and our mission president said we should stay in because the "world might end." My companion and I got the crazy idea---probably it came from the fact that the members had been feeding and stuffing us every chance they had since Christmas--that we would do 1000 sit-ups to bring in the New Year. We did it, and boy did our tummies hurt the next day. And honestly I have done it a few other times just for New Years Eve fun. Yes...I know I'm weird.

Daddy Time

Our life right now is pretty much focused on Anna. Devin loves playing with her each morning before work and each night when he comes home. I don't know who likes the toys more, Devin or Anna. It has been fun to watch Anna grow as she is learning to follow objects with her eyes and even move her head more. We are so grateful that she is such a cuddly baby. We really don't mind holding her all the time. The last few days she has been happy just being in her swing, crib, or bouncer. She really likes the little animal mobiles. Our swing has a bright yellow giraffe, she loves it! It is so cute to watch her watch the giraffe go round and round above her.

Happy 1 Month!

Anna is now a month old. I am amazed at how fast she is growing. She gets cuter every day. She is smiling more and even laughed yesterday. We are most proud of the fact that she now sleeps in her crib all night. We have a little pack-and-play that we have kept her in in our room. But we decided Sunday night that it was time for Anna to sleep in her own room. She has done great. She still wakes up once or twice each night, so Mommy now has to walk farther to feed her, but she sleeps well.

We had a good Thanksgiving. It was SO nice to just stay home. We went to my Mom's house and visited with family. But as you can see from the picture, most of the time was spent just relaxing and enjoying being together. We are excited that even Anna knows that on holidays you should sleep in until at least 8 o'clock.