6.5 M

Maggie is starting to scoot around on her belly. She is also starting to get attached to objects, mainly the ones you have in your hand like cell-phones, calculators, forks and bills... I pretty much let her chew up everything, except the forks of course. Anyway, here is the latest photos of her discoveries.

6 months

15 lbs. 3 oz. - 50th percentile

27 inches - 95th percentile

Maggie is getting to be such a big girl! She loves to play with her toys and put everything in her mouth. Her first tooth came in on Tuesday. We have started her on rice cereal and will soon be making her way towards fruits & veges once we start making her baby food. Maggie is just starting to sit up on her own and we are always close by to catch her when she falls over. Maggie loves attention and loves to be held. She fully recognizes her mom and dad and will smile with delight when she sees us. Maggie just started to say "ma ma " although I don't think she really knows what it means. She is so much fun to be around and we are loving the stage she's in!

non-reader's visual summary (July/August)

High Water

On morn' of Thursday July 30th, we threw our plastic wrapped items and backpacks into the truck and headed for Zion at 4am. Our trip was temporarily put on hold while police officer Levitt, in Hurricane, wrote out a ticket. Thankfully it was not for speeding and only for not having a front license plate. We arrived at the visitor's center 9:30 sharp, picked up our overnight permit and caught our shuttle to Chamberlain's Ranch.

If you want to hike the Zion Narrows there is nothing better than starting from the top. We started in a rolling cow pasture, following the Virgin River, slowly watching it carve below the surface. Taya insisted we tell stories the entire length of the trip

The first day we past through the first narrows, my favorite section. We also past the waterfall, which is a great place to swim. We also past Kolob Creek, where the water gets warm and slippery, deep and murky.

There are twelve designated campsites in the Narrows, our permit was for twelve, but due to lack of sunlight we camped at ten. Our site had dozens of spidery dandy-long-legs, which kept me from sleeping most of the night.

The next day, I awoke to find that a squirrel had eaten most of my remaining food. Luckly, Taya had packed enough food to feed a family of five, including vienna sausages, jerky, bagels, energy bars and extra cereal. I had no idea I would be craving vienna sausages!

The journey out was beautiful. We had to swim through a few areas, which was fun. We filled our water at the Springs, which taste delicious. We didn't take too many detours and were home by 9pm and ready to sleep in our beds.

Camping with the Donovan's

I loved camping when I was a kid. It seemed like a free easy way to live and nobody cared if you were covered in dirt and smelled like a campfire. I never remember packing. I don't recall any sleepless nights. I don't recall unpacking either. I do however remember roasting marshmallows and staying up late telling spooky stories. In fact, I sometimes wondered why all children didn't run away and live in the woods.

Friday after packing for half a day, we left with the Donovan's for Mt. Charleston, about an hour north of Las Vegas. We arrived early enough to get a camping site at Old Mill picnic area. It was chilly and I was thinking about why I packed everything I did but left my jacket at home. I guess when you are constantly sweating you forget that there are places in the world that are cold. Well, my jacket was not the only thing I forgot. The chocolate bars for smores were sitting in the freezer at home and the oil and spatula for the pancakes were sitting in the cupboard. I actually didn't even think of those things until were cooking.

But there were plenty of things that were just as good as I remember. The tinfoil dinners were delicious. The marshmallows were yummy, especially melted on the peach cobbler. The fire Brian built was warm and smokey as any fire I recall. And the stars... well, I am glad I remembered to look up because I almost forgot there were stars in Nevada.

Camping with the family was not quite like I remembered but even without smores or sleep, it was still fun!

5 1/2 Months

Today Maggie looked close to crawling. It has been five and a half short months. She has made some recent discoveries. She recognizes her name by turning to look at you when you say Maggie. She wants to put everything in her mouth, including her toes. She pulls toward any solid foods that Mom or Dad are eating, she really wants to eat something more solid than milk but we are still holding out. She continues to love the outdoors. She can be in the middle of a piercing scream but the instant she steps over the threshold outside, she is calm as a stary night. She sleeps from 8pm to 5am, with a sleepy feeding around 10pm. She loves to be talked to and held. She is developing coordination in her hands. She can hold her own bottle and can pick her pacifier up and put it in her mouth. She smiley more and has more reactions, which makes parenting that much more rewarding.

Birthday

One thing I love about Sara is the reminders she gives me that her birthday is almost here. One month out and she gets giddy, "Do you know what today is?" I should know by now but I swear my brain is not wired to remember dates. "One month before my birthday!" Birthday month begins, which means nothing really changes except, Sara is making plans and talking about all the things we are going to do. Special favors are done under the guise of birthday month. One week out and presents begin to arrive and we celebrate early, after all it is birthday week.

Finally it's here. The funny thing is in a few minutes I will be wakening her with Maggie and then we are off cleaning the house because the Donavan's are coming out to celebrate and we are going camping, yes camping. Sara even let me influence her birthday plans. This is a big experiment with two toddlers but if nothing turns out at least we will have an adventure.

Happy Birthday Sara!!

Apple Pie Fourth of July

On the Road

Last weekend we visited family in CA. Per Paige's request, I'm getting the pictures up with more frequency. These were fun pictures, especially taking pictures of Tanner and Brayden. Enjoy!!!

Traveling Maveling Maggie

#32 & RJC (Never Released Photos)

Happy Birthday Blake and Baby Ray!!!

Carly's little boy Raymond John born June 5th at 12:11pm
8 lbs. 14oz. 21 inches
Same day as his Uncle Blake

Memorial Day

My Grandpa had his headstone long before he past away. When visiting we would always walk up to Fairview Cemetery to see his headstone. He was very proud of it and thought others shouldn't be the only ones to enjoy it.

My Father past away on 8.28.2006, unexpectantly! We buried him in Fairview Cemetery and my Mother asked me if I would design their headstone... which I gladly accepted. It has been nearly three years and Dad still has no headstone. I had the idea in my mind about what I wanted but I never couldn't get it on paper.

Finally, I called Mom and told her I was making a leap forward on the project. I think this should serve has my general idea and hope it does a better job than just words. There is a lot of symbolism in it. I think a few more notes might help clarity some of the important details but you get the general idea.

Grandpa's prized headstone, prior to death

Construction Notes

Reflective Puddle and Water Feature

Back to Work

I went back to work today. I had 11 glorious weeks off. Time spent with Stanford, Maggie and lots of extended family. I was able to re coop from a hard and difficult delivery. I was able to have success at breastfeeding. I was able to nap and read and go for walks and bike rides. I was able to figure out ways to calm a crying baby.

Motherhood has been quite an adjustment for me. I kept thinking that after a difficult pregnancy things would be great. And while it's not been terrible, it's not been easy either. The constant spitting up, crying, and poopy diapers can sometimes cause me to want to pull my hair out. But the smiles and coos, cuddles and soft cheeks to kiss make up for those difficult times.

And today I had to do the most difficult thing of all and walk out my front door with purse, pump, lunch and water in tow and kiss my husband and sweet little girl goodbye. I was so nervous about this day. Not quite sure what to expect. It was not what I wanted and yet it was ok.

My day back at work could not have gone better. Stanford made me a smoothie for breakfast. I got the most perfect parking spot. There were welcome back signs all over my office, playroom and Peds unit. I got filled in on all that has happened in the last few months. I got to catch up on all the lives of my friends and co-workers. And the best part: the day went by quickly. And when I came home there was my husband and little girl waiting to greet me. Dinner was cooking & the table set. I feel blessed.

I think I just might be able to handle this.

Unemployed

I have re-written my resume a thousand times since January… I have emailed and hand delivered my resume to dozens and dozens of firms, but to no avail.

OUR GAME PLAN: Sara would stay home and we would get by with one income… well we have managed to get by… but this Monday, Sara is going to return to work... and we are not giving up our plan, just buying time.

Not all of my time has been wasted looking for work… I have been able to spend an incredible amount of time with Sara, Maggie and family, which would have never happened otherwise.

Anyway, instead of investing my time trying to find work in ARCHITECTURE, I have decided to put my otherwise dormant skills to work. Once upon a moon, I sold my camera and equipment to help pay for graduate school, and I said good-bye to my photography endeavor, which was doing well but I knew I could not do everything.

After I graduated, I started collecting camera gear again and I recently updated my wedding photography website. Anyway, I never advertised myself and if anyone has advise or wedding leads, please check out our site or leave us a note.

Thanks!

notanotherpicture.com.

Sara & Maggie after a bike ride

For the most part... I think Maggie really likes cruzing around in her little wagon... which incidentally we purchased for $2.68 out of pocket, after using our dividend and a REI gift card... very sweet... now hopefully we can get in shape.




















Here's Sara and Maggie after the fact.

I love her

Pictures from the last few weeks

Maggie's first Easter
Dinner at our home with Stanford's mom, and our friends Mark, Sun & Jenny


Stanford's mother came to visit for an entire week following Easter. We loved having her help take care of Maggie! She spoiled (us all) rotten!



I love this picture of Maggie -right before a melt down.
She is sporting her new BYU shirt that she wears the day of my brother pitches




Stanford, Maggie and I took a trip to California for a week so I could visit some friends from my old job (love you guys!), go to Julie's art show at UCLA (awesome), see lots of other friends (Lori & Haws/Cinnamon, Tom & Max ... to name a few), and visit with my family. It was great fun. Here is us at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. We only got 2 photo's before the batteries died on the camera.

Grandma Snowball holding Maggie for the first time!

Michelle's awesome birthday cake Stanford made for her birthday. We celebrated with her at her home in Lake Elsinore.

2 months old

11 lbs. 9 oz.

23 inches long

You are a much happier baby these days. You still have acid reflux and cry but not as much. You like to sit in your swing and look at the mirror and toys spinning. You also like to take your naps in your swing. You like to look at the ceiling fan and it can entertain you for quite a while. You also like to make noises with your mouth and chew on your fists. Your dad and I love to hold you and kiss your cute cheeks!

Finally an Action Movie Rated G

Priesthood Blessings & Family Events

I have received several priesthood blessings throughout my life and now I was excited and nervious to give Maggie her first priesthood blessing. When I was born I received a baby blessing, which ushered me into the world. My blessing was performed by my Father, not to be confused with a baby christening, LDS baby blessings are not a baptism, their main purpose is pronounce a name and blessing to the child, and to re-affirm our faith and commitment to the Lord. Our families drove in from California, Washington and Utah. I love these kind of family affairs. It is nice to belong to a family who supports you. I was extremely nervious about giving the blessing and about Maggie crying and screaming during her blessing... she has a good set of lungs and her little tummy has been hurting lately, but she was completely calm thoughout the blessing, wheww! Maggie was blessed in the same dress Sara was blessed in (Made by her Mother) and Sara's Mom embrodered Sara and Maggie's name into the slip of the dress. It was beautiful.