Thanksgiving Week

I know, it's wierd to start off a post about Thanksgiving with a picture of our Christmas tree, but I don't have any photos from Thanksgiving week - we had THAT much fun! :) It was a bit of a rough start with us not leaving until Monday night around six when the plan had been to leave first thing Monday morning, but such is life with a farmer who has to help haul cows. We finally arrived and started our week off right with a trip to the Manti Temple with my sister and her husband. It was awesome! We have not been to the temple together in a very, very long time and it was extra special because it was the first time for my sister and her husband have been back since they were married there. Then the crazy pie making began! We made 18 pies this year! Thanks to everyone for pitching in, though so it wasn't a mammoth task for just one person. We had so many yummy ones to choose from, it was awesome! I think the favorites this year were the returning champion blueberry, the raspberry sour cream and the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake.

We were able to squeeze in a little shooting with the pie-making and then we enjoyed a nice, relaxed Thanksgiving with family and food. Friday we skipped the Black Friday shopping to go paintballing, which was a blast! I got the best injury for the entire time on the first round. I got hit in the finger, which bled right away and hurt like the dickens for a while. At the bottom is a picture of what is still there after nearly a week. That night my sister, mom and I went out to get much-needed haircuts and do some shopping. And the last day us gals went out for brunch at IHOP and saw The Help at the cheap theatre. That night the guys went and saw Contagion. It was an awesome week, let me tell you!

While we were in Utah Amy finally cut her first tooth - Yay!! And now we are back to reality with cooking, cleaning, and schedules. Sam loves being back in preschool. Amy has decided to wake up in the middle of the night again, so we will be working on retraining her to sleep through the night. I am enjoying playing volleyball three mornings a week with ladies in my ward since running outside is no longer ideal. And Robert is just biding his time until his big trip to Texas to hunt deer (all expenses paid!)

So that's about it for now. Hope you all are detoxing from all the family, food, and fun ok. We are having a bit of a time adjusting - Amy to not being held every minute of the day and Sam to not having constant playmates. It may be a good thing for him, though; I caught him admiring something he had made out of playdough saying "Ohh, it's so cute!" in a high, girly voice :)

(Oh yeah, and how do you like our Christmas tree? It leaves very little living space in the living room, but it is worth it for the lovely sight and smell all month long!)

What We've Been Up To

Probably my favorite outfit on Amy right now - go flower power!! This poor gal has been really fussy lately because she is getting some teeth! Don't know exactly how many are coming in yet, but her bottom gums in the front are pretty swollen so I'm thinking maybe the two bottom? We will have to let you know when they come through - hopefully soon!

This is my latest project - accomplished in just one day believe it or not! It is a sleeper sack for Amy to wear at night to keep her nice and cozy even when she throws off the blankets. The first is always the hardest and the worst, but I am proud of myself for doing it and plan to make more now that I have figured it out.

Brother and sister

And tonight our library had Little Critter come visit. Sam saw all the posters when we came for storytime and kept asking all day if we were going to see him and so right after some friends we babysat left we hurried over. Of course we finally get there and Sam is too scared to go near him - silly goose! There was also a silent auction where I won a super cute bag and a pillowcase/book combo that is a cute girly pillowcase for Amy and a Little Critter book for Sam. I would call it a good night!

Big Girl

Amy hit the big 6 month checkpoint which means another doctor appointment to get the latest stats on our little gal. She measured 27 inches long, which is the 89th percentile. Head was 43.5 cms (not given a percentile on that one) and she weighed 17 pounds 9.5 ounces, putting her in the 77th percentile for weight. So all around she is doing very well and mainly grew longer instead of heavier.

She is eating baby food and cereal twice a day now. She loves oatmeal and mixed grain and doesn't really seem to have a preference on the baby food yet. She is still quite the mommy's girl, but that isn't always a bad thing. We just discovered that she can sit up on her own and she is doing fabulous now that we give her the opportunity to practice. She loves playing in the saucer and has been rolling for a little while and is just starting to figure out how to use rolling to get herself from one place to another. She still adores her big brother and he mainly still likes her. When she isn't sick she will usually sleep through the night, depending on when she goes to bed and when she last ate. And lastly, she is an extremely happy, smiley baby when she first wakes up!!

I can't imagine life without our sweet little Amy. Hope you enjoy some new pictures. This bottom one is one day she fell asleep while I was holding her and I just couldn't bring myself to go put her in a bed (she sleeps on my bed if she falls asleep after Sam goes down for a nap), so I snuggled her on the couch next to me while I worked on a project and just watched her sleep. Love moments like these!

First Quilt and Other Tidbits

 My first ever quilt is posted above. Took me ten months to complete it, but I had a few minor distractions like having a baby, so I hope my friend will forgive me being 3 months late with her baby's gift. But at least it is in time for winter, right? I chose most of the colors before knowing the gender of the baby, so that is why it isn't super girly or super boyish. I think it turned out pretty cute, though. And if you don't look too close at the stitching, it looks great! :) Next time will be better, guaranteed! Thanks to my friend, my sister, and my mother-in-law for helping me with this major project - I couldn't have done it without you guys!

 

And here is a picture of Sam ready to go trunk-or-treating - I know, kinda late. But we had Robert's mom here to visit for the last week so I didn't get a chance to post this. I love how decked out he looks and the big scrape under his eye where Daddy dropped a light on him adds just the right touch to get that "beaten cowboy" look :)
Another project that I finished up was a little decorating in the kids' room. Sam has had his name on the wall for a while and I have been meaning to do Amy's and some cute kiddy graphics. Thanks to Robert's mom, we got it hammered out. Sam LOVES his tractor and rocketship (don't they look awesome?!) and I love the way Amy's flower and butterfly turned out!