Blessings, Baby Showers, and Piggy Tails

I figured it was about time I posted pictures of Lucy's baby blessing on November 1st. Since our sacrament meeting is last, I asked Annie to stay home with me and help me get Lucy ready. I had everything timed so that I would feed her, get her dressed and then head down to the church. Everything was going smoothly until I picked Lucy up to burp her, and she threw up all over herself. "Not a big deal," I told myself. "I'll just wipe her down with baby wipes." After giving her a thorough wipe-down, I picked her up to get her dressed. Once again, she threw up all over herself. At this point I knew I was in trouble, because Lucy now had an empty stomach and I was out of milk. I frantically got some frozen milk defrosting and attempted to clean Lucy up for the second time so I could put her in her dress. Needless to say, we barely made it to sacrament on time. Lucy was fussy all through the opening song and prayer and even as Jordan was carrying her to the front to be blessed. Jordan's dad told me later that Lucy went to start crying in the circle, but made eye contact with him and began cooing. She was happy through the entire blessing, thank heaven! Jordan gave her a beautiful blessing, and it was a great day. My dad took some pictures after church.

I love how she squints one eye when she smiles!

The dress came with a bonnet that I thought was cute. Jordan informed me that she would NOT be wearing it to church. Oh well, at least we got some cute pictures.

Our happy girl.

She looks just like Jordan in this picture.

On Saturday my close girl friends threw me a belated baby shower. It was originally planned for the week before Lucy was born, but then I had her early. We finally managed to all get together and it was so fun! I LOVE these girls.

Lucy fell asleep on me at the shower. Is there anything better? Pure bliss.

Lucy hanging out with her Aunt Jen. Jen is going to have her baby in two weeks.

The princess of the party.

So, I decided to try giving Lucy piggy tails--heaven knows she has enough hair! Here was the result...

Pretty cute, eh? This was after we took the pig tails out.

This last picture is too cute not to post. We went out in the morning and she had busted out of her swaddle-me blanket. Look how pleased she is with herself. Little stinker!

Back to Work.....

So, the day I have been dreading since July 20th has arrived. The day that I would have to leave my baby and go back to work. With all of the weekend festivities going on (i.e. Halloween and Lucy's baby blessing), I almost forgot that I would have to go back to work on Tuesday......almost. I have gone through various stages of mourning, and I've finally come to an okay place. But Tuesday morning I was a wreck. I cried all morning long. By the time I got to work I was crying so hard I couldn't even talk. Guess what song was playing on the radio while I drove? "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"---I hate Aerosmith. I took a few moments in my car to gain some compusure, and then I entered the school. There was a group of teachers in the foyer to greet me. One said, "Welcome back, who is watching your baby?" That's all it took for me to completely break down and sob in front of all the teachers. They were all so nice, and assured me that things would get better. I would say that each day is getting a little easier. I never planned on working after having a baby. I always knew I would just stay home. I guess I never planned on having a husband in school and also needing health insurance. I am so blessed though, because Jordan and our moms have agreed to bring Lucy to the school every day at lunch time so I can nurse her. So, I never go more than four hours without seeing her. Jordan has been so great about everything. My first day back, he went to Inkleys and printed and framed a picture of Lucy for me to keep on my desk. What a guy. I love that he and Lucy are getting this chance to bond. Even though it's hard, we'll all survive. On a happier note.....how was everyone's Halloween????

Mine was FABULOUS!!

Here's why:

Thanks for the leggings Aunt Erin!

My favorite pumpkins.

Yes, Jordan and I dug through our moms' Halloween boxes and found these pumpkin costumes. Pretty sure I wore mine the year I turned four.

Cousin pictures before putting on costumes.

World's cutest pumpkin.

Cousin pictures after putting on costumes. We had a great Halloween, and hope everyone else did too. I'll blog about Lucy's blessing later. I'm ready for bed.

I'm Behind....So What??

So, here's the deal. My blog has essentially become my on-line journal. Because of this, I have a hard time leaving anything out. Be ye warned---this will be a LONG post. Here goes.....

I go back to work next week.....sob. Davis School District has agreed to let me work 30 hours and still maintain full health insurance benefits for my family. I am heartbroken at the thought of leaving my baby though. It feels unnatural to leave Lucy, but I know it's the best thing for us right now. The plan has been all along that Jordan will watch Lucy on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and that our moms will watch her on Wednesdays and Fridays. However, we just received fabulous news that put a monkey wrench in our plans. Even though Jordan won't graduate with his Masters in Accountancy for a year and a half, he has been interviewing with various accounting firms lately to gain some experience. Because of the down economy, hardly any firms are offering internships this year. That means that hundreds of BYU, Utah, Utah State, Southern Utah University, and Weber State students are competing for only a few internship slots. Jordan has been eyeing Hansen, Barnett, & Maxwell, a local firm, since he started the accounting program. He was excited when he was asked to interview with them, but didn't dare hope that they would offer him the internship. Well, last week he got an e-mail offering him a Winter intership from January 15th to April 15th. I am so proud of him!! Most of the time internships turn into job offers, so of course we accepted the offer. However, this means that our moms will be taking care of Lucy for us during that time. Besides Jordan and I, I can't think of anyone better to watch our little girl.....but I'm still feeling conflicted about the whole thing. You can do anything for three months....right?

In other news, my beautiful, talented, funny, personable, sister, Annie, announced that she was planning on serving a mission. She received her mission call last week and she is going to............the Omaha, Nebraska--Winter Quarters Historic Site. She is so excited and I know she will be a fabulous missionary.

Lucy is now over three months old. She has been sleeping through the night for a month now. She smiles, laughs and coos like crazy. I am loving this age!

At the BYU game.

Jordan's sister Jenny before the homecoming dance. Dresses and hairstyles are SO much cuter than when I was in high school. She looked like a babe!!

Two weeks ago, Jordan and I headed down to San Diego for five days. Lucy was such a good traveler. Of the 28 hours of driving time, she maybe cried for 25 minutes. She woke up every four hours, ate, and went back to sleep. Good baby. On the way down we stopped in Las Vegas to get ice cream with Jordan's brother, Jason, and his family. It was so great to see them!!

Kate, Josh, and Lucy. Pretty sure these kids belong on the cover of a Gap Kids catalogue. They are so cute!

Jordan, Lucy, Kate, Jason, Kara, and Josh

While in San Diego we went to the beach, Coronado Island, the tide pools at La Jolla, Old Town San Diego, shopping, and to the BYU-San Diego State game. My brother Mike and his son, Landon flew into town for the game and then drove home with us. It was so fun to get away. Here I am standing in front of the famous Hotel del Coronado.

At the tide pools at La Jolla. While the beautiful weather was fun, I was surprised how much I missed the cooler fall weather back home. Hooray for fall! We got home on Sunday night and Annie opened her mission call. The next day Erin came into town with Abbie and Noah. It was so fun to have Mike and Erin and the kids in town. We spent a good portion of the week in a condo at Park City where we swam, ate, played cards, shopped and went to the Warren Miller ski film.

Lucy with her cousin Noah. These two will be in the same grade in school.

My mom reading books to her grandkids. Pure bliss for my mom.

Jordan turned 25 on October 13th. He spent his birthday on the road to San Diego. We had a couple of birthday parties for him to celebrate. This is actually his third birthday cake. We had a little birthday celebration for him and Noah while we were in Park City. Poor guy--he was so sick the whole week.

Noah turns one on November 7th. He apparently loves chocolate cake.

These last pictures were taken yesterday at Pack's Pumpkin Farm. What would October be without a trip to the pumpkin patch?

I love this picture of Jordan and Lucy.

Me and my girl.

Long enough post??

Autumn is Here!!

Autumn is finally here! And with it comes cooler temperatures, beautifully colored leaves, BYU football games, and Halloween. What's not to love?? Last Sunday we drove the Alpine Loop to look at the leaves. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the outing.











P.S. Lucy slept 8 1/2 hours uninterrupted last night. Yay!!

Is She Growing??

Affirmative.

Frailty, Thy Name is Laura....

Remember how I've been growing out my bangs for the past 11 months?

Oops..

Behind Again...

What did I ever do with my time before I had a baby? I know I had loads of it, but what did I do? I have a very simple list of things that I would like to get done. However, I can't seem to cross things off my list. I lie in bed at the end of the day, exhausted, and I think....what did I accomplish today? I guess I did wash and fold the laundry, take a shower, get myself ready, go for a walk, bathe Lucy, feed her about 10 times, clean the apartment, write some thank-you notes, etc. I guess it just feels sometimes like I'm accomplishing nothing. Enough about me. Lucy had her 2 month appointment last Tuesday and here are the stats:

Weight: 8 pounds 12 ounces--10th percentile
Height: 21 inches--10th percentile

She has almost doubled her weight since she left the hospital. It might have something to do with her CONSTANT need to eat. She has also been smiling like crazy, and she is starting to coo and goo. LOVE it!!!!

Too cute.

Ready for church.

Jordan has been interviewing at different accounting firms lately. Doesn't he look great in his new suit??

The results of a major blowout during a feeding. You are looking at my lap.

Lucy before the BYU game on Saturday. It was her first official game as a Cougar fan.

Look how sad she was when the Cougars lost.

For All You Doubters...

Remember how everyone said BYU was going to get dominated, decimated, creamed, pulverized and destroyed by #3 Oklahoma?????

Think again!!

Cougars 14, Sooners 13. Go Cougs!!!!

Yesterday was such a great day in sports. My family also went to the USA vs El Salvador World Cup qualifier. The good old U. S. of A. pulled through and won 2-1.

What a great day in the world of sports!!

Lucy thought so too!