The One Where She Smiles!

Paige had been trying to smile for about a week, and then this weekend... it happened!!




I know the pictures aren't the best, and they are blurry, and she isn't smiling all that much in them (I guess she was getting tired of smiling by the time I got the camera), but I was lucky to get what I got on her first smile ever. :)

Unfortunately, I've been REALLY bad at taking pictures of her. I'll try to do better this week.

We love her!

The One With Our First Anniversary

We will have been married for one year tomorrow.

I know what you are thinking... "they sure didn't waste any time starting a family..."
No, we sure didn't. :) Although, it wasn't how we planned, it was how God planned it, and we are thrilled and loving life. Thankfully, we've been together since August of 2007, so we had that foundation of our relationship before we got pregnant. (side note... I love that we dated for longer than the average "utahn"... I recommend it to everyone!)

It's been quite the journey for us. Here's a little walk down memory lane.

We've gone from this....
(our first picture together - we had been dating for a couple of months)



To this....
(the first couple sealed in the Draper Temple... sorry... I had to brag again) :)



To this...
(a cute little family!)



I know we haven't been together for all that long, but we have definitely been through our share of ups and downs. Thankfully, they always have helped us to grow stronger together. I wouldn't change a thing. I won't get too cheesy (for your sake and for Rick's sake), but I will say this... I have never imagined I could keep falling more and more in love with someone this much for this long. I adore him. I am so so happy with him.

Happy anniversary to us!!!

The One With The Milestones

I was checking my email and following links when I came to a Baby Milestone Tracker. It estimates how old Rick & I will be when Paige hits some of her milestones... I found it kind of interesting, so I thought I would share it with you.

Smile at you in June 2010. Mom, you’ll be 23; Dad, you’ll be27.
Sit up in October 2010. Mom, you’ll be 24; Dad, you’ll be 27.
Say a first word in April, 2011. Mom, you’ll be 24; Dad, you’ll be 28.
Start walking in June, 2011. Mom, you’ll be 24; Dad, you’ll be 28.
Start preschool in September, 2014. Mom, you’ll be 27; Dad, you’ll be 31.
Go to kindergarten in September, 2015. Mom, you’ll be 28; Dad, you’ll be 32.
Lose a first tooth in April, 2016. Mom, you’ll be 29; Dad, you’ll be 33.
Start junior high in September, 2023. Mom, you’ll be 36; Dad, you’ll be 40.
Get a driver’s license in April, 2026. Mom, you’ll be 39; Dad, you’ll be 43.
Be eligible to vote in April, 2028. Mom, you’ll be 41; Dad, you’ll be 45.
Graduate from college in April, 2032. Mom, you’ll be 45; Dad, you’ll be 49.
They sure do grow up fast, don’t they?

It's so weird to think of her being old enough to graduate college, and just as weird to think of Rick and I at the ages of 45 & 49!!

The One With The Visit To Great Grandma's House

I know everyone loves a new baby, but my grandma absolutely LOVES babies.

I was able to take Paige to visit my mom's mom when she was only a few days old, and then again this week. It makes my grandma's day, even week, but it makes me so happy too. I love to visit my grandma, especially since she, well, is getting older. She is under 100 lbs now (hence why Paige and I look so big next to her) and terribly shaky, but she always has a good attitude. I'm really glad that she was able to meet my Paige. Especially since I had a special experience when I was pregnant, where I felt that Paige and my grandpa might have been together. So, it's especially sweet to see my grandma with her, if Paige really was with my grandpa.

My grandpa passed away before I was born, but I have always felt a special, unexplainable, closeness to him. I love hearing my grandma tell me about him, how they met, and his love for practical jokes.



PS- Paige's silhouette of her face is exactly the same as the silhouette of her ultrasound...

The One With The Confessions Of A New Mom

I've been realizing some things in the past month and thought I would share them with you. Some of these things I expected to happen, and others were surprises. :)

• Although it's never fun to wake up every three hours in the middle of the night, that time is usually my favorite time with Paige.
• I know newborns are easy since they sleep so much, but I still don't know how everyone does it with more than one other child.
  
• You can never kiss your baby too much . . it never gets old.
  
• I'm still in shock that I had a baby and that I am a mom.
  
• A bigger chest helps you to look thinner (as opposed to a smaller chest...).
• Sleep is great!
• It's funny how my idea of "accomplishments" have changed. I get excited and proud of myself for just taking a shower.
  
• I love it when she's a little fussy (she really isn't fussy very much at all...) when someone else is holding her, and they pass her to me and she stops crying.
  
• Although I am not sure when I'll find the time, I am actually excited to start exercising again. That's big! :)
• Time flies by now. Faster than I ever thought possible.
  
• I'm surprised at how going out (just for one small thing during the day) is somehow an all-day thing. It takes the whole day to prepare for it.
• I can't tell you how much I appreciate it when Rick appreciates the little things that I do (including me getting up with Paige at night), and ignores all of the other things (usually house chores) that didn't get done.
• I knew nursing would be hard and take a lot of time and effort, but I didn't know it would be this hard.
  
• You know you are a mom when it's 11:30 am and you realized that you haven't eaten breakfast or brushed your teeth yet.
• It's kind of fun to have strangers gawk over how tiny she is, when she's really grown so much.
• I haven't taken half as many pictures of her as I thought I would. We've just been focusing on eating and sleeping mostly. :)
  

My baby is 4 weeks old on Thursday (tomorrow). I really cannot believe it. She is 7 1/2 lbs now, so she's gained 2 lbs since she was born. She's finally the size of an average new born baby. She's so tall, and has grown over 2 inches in the past month. I don't want her to grow up, just grow more hair. :) Although, she hasn't lost any hair yet. Let's hope it stays that way. She's a happy baby and only cries when she's hungry. She does "complain", though, as my friend Carlye put it, when she isn't exactly thrilled with other parts of life.

I bought her blessing dress, and it's a size 2XS. We aren't going to bless her until May, but I hope she fits in it by then. It looks like it would drown her right now.

She's starting to wake up a little more and I love it. I felt like I was able to play with her for the first time yesterday and it made me so happy. She even did what seemed like a possible smile while we played. I don't care if it wasn't real yet, it still made my day.

The One With Our Special Trip

Last Thursday, my baby turned 2 weeks old. She is already growing up way too fast. At her 2 week appointment, she weighed 6 lbs 3 oz (she's gained about a pound), and she was 20 inches long (she grew an inch and a half already). Even though she is still in the bottom 5 percentile, the doctor was really pleased with her progress. So am I... I'm a proud mamma.

We had several errands to run, including going to my all time favorite store . . . Target! I was really, really bummed that I didn't have a camera with me to take some fun pictures to remember this special occasion of Paige's first trip to Target, but at least I had my camera on my cell. Better than nothing. She LOVED Target, btw. I'd dare say she grinned ear to ear the whole time we were there.


I try most days to take a picture of Paige on my cell and send it to Rick while he's at work. This was one of them . . . I love my tiny little baby.