What's This Green Stuff?

I gave Amelia some kiwi fruit during lunch today and she wasn't to sure about it. Hey mom, what is this stuff?"

Even though I don't think I like the looks of this stuff, I will flash you a great big smile!

Ooh, it's kind of slippery.

Are you going to make me eat this mom?

Is Daddy Home Yet?

Amelia was wondering when daddy was coming home so she crawled over to our balcony door on the 2nd floor and peered out the window to see.

Mommy, I don't see daddy :(

I guess I will have to entertain myself and play with the door stopper...

Or I could crawl around and explore...

But I think I would rather come and get you mommy!

My Little Indulgence

It all started back in my freshman year of high school. My mom and I started scrapbooking. Ever since then I try my hardest to find time to continue doing it. Usually I get most scrapbooking done when I go visit my parents in Cottonwood. In my four years at college, I was able to get finish two scrapbooks.

I must say that after college, I have been a slacker. Right now my wedding pictures are in a photo album on my tv cabinet. My hope is to someday do something with them. I know my mother is working on a wedding scrapbook for me to someday have. After Clint and I got married, we went on a late honeymoon to New Zealand for three weeks. We took TONS of pictures. I have gotten the best ones printed already, about 200 photos! They are sitting in a box just waiting to be put in the wonderful travel scrapbook my sister bought us. Someday I will get something done with these pictures!

I told myself I would be better and make sure I kept up to date with scrapbooking once Amelia was born. Well, bad news, I have disappointed myself yet again. I have taken many pictures since she was born and I finally did get all the pics I wanted printed and organized. I had bought a cute 8" by 8" scrapbook and my mom bought me a 12" by 12" scrapbook for me to use. A few months ago I did finally start scrapbooking Amelia's photos. The other day I finished the 8" by 8" scrapbook with her first month of life. I must admit that I think this scrapbook is amazing! It has all the cute embellsihments and page layouts. I am very proud of this little scrapbook and that I will be able to give it to Amelia some day.

Since I finished the first month of her life in this smaller scrapbook, I have now started the larger ladybug scrapbook. While Amelia was napping for two hours, I was able to get a two pages done. I tried doing some more while she played near me but she just wanted to come and see what I was doing and play with the scrapbooking tools. I picked her up and showed her the pictures. She pointed at them and a big smile took over her face. She then would say 'ba'. I would point to Clint and say daddy. She got very excited. I pointed to myself and said mommy. She got happy but not as excited. I think since she is around me all day, daddy is more of a novelty to her. I then pointed to the picture of her and said Amelia. She just kind of looked at it for a second and wasn't sure about it. Then she pointed at it, smiled, and said 'ba'.

I have so many more pictures to scrapbook from Amelia's first year of life. My goal is to catch up so that I can start working on her second year of life. I have a feeling her 2nd birthday will be here much sooner than later. I hope that I don't diappoint myself again and that I can successfully manage my time and work on my little indulgence of scrapbooking!

12 Months Old

With all of the birthday excitement I got wrapped up in, I forgot to take Amelia's 12 month pictures. I did finally take them, which is very hard to do now. Amelia stands up instantly when I set her in the chair and leans over to where the cd player is and tries to reach it. I did get a few good shots but then she started getting cranky and wanted to go off the front of the chair to go eat lunch.

Amelia is still very into opening and closing things such as doors, cabinets, drawers, books, and any toys that have doors or flaps. A little while before her birthday, Amelia started taking her toys or objects out of her toy baskets and put them into other baskets or boxes. I can tell her to go put a toy in the basket or bring it to me and she will do it! This comes in handy now when she picks up little pieces of stuff off the ground or objects she isn't supposed to have. I just hold out my hands and tell her to bring it to mommy and she comes over to me and places whatever it is into my hands. I praise her and clap so she knows she did something good. I'm hoping this behavior will continue for her.

For her birthday, Amelia got one of the ring stacking toys that plays music when the rings are placed on the base. She is getting very good at placing the rings onto the base one by one. She gets frustrated if the ring doesn't go on correctly the first try. I tell her it's okay and to try again.

We have been showing Amelia how to get off the couch by getting onto her stomach and sliding down feet first. She is good at getting off the couch feet first. Last week I was in our bathroom getting ready and Amelia was on out bed, which is about three feet off the ground. She wanted to get on the ground and come be with me and play on the ground while I got ready. She would get right up to the edge and peer over. She would throw anything that was on the bed onto the floor and then look at it. Then she turned over onto her stomach and started dangling her feet over the edge of the bed. She started pushing her body near the edge of the bed until she slid down the side and landed her feet on the floor. I was quite impressed since the bed is higher than her. She is a little over 30" tall and her head doesn't even see the top of the mattress.

The last few days Amelia has started taking a few little steps. If I am sitting on the floor and she is crusing along the couch, I tell her to come to mama. She will let go of the couch, face me, and take a step or two towards me, and then lunge into me. I'm hoping this is another important milestone towards walking. I want her to be able to walk so her legs won't be as dirty and scuffed from crawling.

Amelia has the two bottom teeth and three top teeth plus one on the way. The top right, left, and the one at the right of the front tooth. The one on the left of the front tooth is working it's way through right now and agrivating Amelia's mouth. Hopefully it breaks through soon so she won't be in pain.

One of my favorite pics of Amelia flashing her beautiful smile




Talking to her teddy




Thinking about the ladybug on the quilt


Checking out the buttons on her dress

Amelia's 1st Birthday!

Wow! I can't believe Amelia is already 1 year old! This last year just flew by. I'm sure this next year will pass even quicker and then she will be 2.

My mom came down early to help me get everything ready for the party on Saturday- THANKS mom! We put up this birthday door banner that I ordered:


We filled balloons with helium- thanks for letting me borrow your helium tank Betty. Amelia helped make sure the balloons were good :)



Amelia relaxed in her ladybug chair while we got more things done downstairs.



We dressed Amelia up in her ladybug birthday dress, which happened to match my guest bedroom sheets almost exactly. Can you find Amelia?



Taking a quick pic with cousin Charlie, 10 months old.



Eating lunch at the party and watching all the party guests.



The ladybug cake



The ladybug cupcakes- thanks Clint for helping with these :)



Amelia's birthday cake



Amelia was so excited when everyone started singing Happy Birthday to her that she didn't even notice the cake in front of her.



Still excited about everything that was going on around.



Finally enjoying that yummy cake!



Opening presents with mommy and daddy's help.



After the party, Amelia tried to sneak upstairs without us knowing. She can get up those stairs very quickly so I have to keep a good eye on her when she heads near them.



Later in the evening, we took the babies for a wagon ride in Amelia's new Radio Flyer.



We walked to the park and grandpa Dave tried to sneak up on the babies. I don't think they were surprised at all. We went and dipped our feet in pool to cool off and decided we would go change and come back to go swimming. It was very relaxing after a few busy days!



Thanks to all those that came to celebrate Amelia's 1st Birthday! She had a great time and I'm sure she is glad you came.

I guess I better start planning next year's birthday party ;)

4th of July BBQ

During the 4th of July weekend we had a family bbq, including swimming, at Clint's sister's house. We ate great food and had a wonderful time together. Clint took Amelia swimming in their pool but she didn't seem to happy about it for some reason. Maybe because I wasn't in the pool with her? The actual 4th of July was pretty relaxed; Amelia and I slept in while Clint did some work, then we went to watch Clint play basketball with family and friends (we haven't gone to watch him in a while so thought we should go), then had some hot dogs for dinner. We saw some fireworks in the distance from our house in the evening.

I wasn't really into the whole 4th of July celebration this year. I was more focused on being thankful for living in this great country we call America. I was also reminiscing about what I was doing last year at this time; my belly was about ready to pop as I was one week away from delivering Amelia. I knew last year that in a week or two, my life was going to change once she was born. Thinking back through this last year, I know there were difficult times that seemed would never get better but all the good things outweigh those not so good. I am glad I have my baby girl and am glad she was able to celebrate the 4th of July with us and enjoy hot dogs and watermelon!


Amelia's cute swimsuit with a sunhat

Amelia in the pool with Aunt Melissa

Swimming with daddy

Drying off in the ladybug robe with mommy

11 Months Old

Amelia is 11 months old...one month away from one year! This past month she learned how to clap her hands together and also how to wave her hands. She loves when I clap my hands and then say Yay. She will usually clap her hands in excitement after I do this. She loves to wave at people she sees when we are out and about shopping. Amelia gets really excited when Clint comes home from work. She sticks her hands out as far as they can go. Then she waves more with her fingers like she is reaching out and trying to grab something.

Our Trip to Utah

Our little family traveled to Utah Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We visited with my best childhood friend, Paula, and her husband, Cameron, in Provo on Friday. We went to a nearby pond with them near the BYU campus and fed the ducks; or at least tried to feed them. We gave the ducks bread crumbs but I guess they were full because they didn't seem very interested in the bread at all. There were many adorable little baby ducklings. I wanted to get one and take it home with me but they kept running away from me. After a little while it started to rain so we said goodbye to the ducks and went on our way.



Amelia wasn't too sure about her feet touching the grass so she enjoyed daddy carrying her.







The highlight for me was stealing a wet kiss from my baby girl.



The reason we made a trip to Utah was to go to a wedding reception Saturday evening for one of the missionaries Clint trained in New Zealand. It was the last of the three guys he trained and he wanted to make it to all three of their wedding receptions. It was a little cold and started sprinkling so I got Amelia bundled up in her sweater.



After the reception we drove back to where our hotel was located. We hadn't eaten dinner yet so we stopped and ate at Amelia's Kitchen and Lounge. This was a restaurant inside a different hotel than where we were staying but we just had to eat there since it was named Amelia! The whole area around there was aviation related; some street names included Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh.



When we first walked into the restaurant there was this sign that said Amelia's Kitchen.



The people that sat near us enjoyed Amelia very much; they didn't know they would be getting dinner and a free show. Amelia loves waving and smiling at everybody around her.

Cute As A Bug

I got the plate back from As You Wish Pottery that I made with my mom over the weekend. I think it turned out pretty nice except for a few errors I made. I looked back in Amelia's baby book at the foot prints we had done at the hospital right after she was born and man are they so tiny compared to her feet now! I'm just hoping she doesn't get my big feet. It's never fun trying to find shoes. I don't want her to have to go through shoe shopping disappointments like I did. Anyways, I hope Amelia will cherish this plate that I made for her when she is older. I'm sure I will make more fun pieces of pottery at As You Wish Pottery but for now, this is her special plate that mommy made her!

My Birthday Weekend

Amelia wanted to be the first to tell me Happy Birthday so at 12:45 am on Friday she decided to wake up and cry. I rocked her back to sleep and went back to bed. A few hours later she wanted to tell me again and woke up to tell me. I think she has been teething this last week but I'm not sure. So I think that's really why she woke up.



My mom and dad came down Friday evening after work for my birthday and stayed for the weekend. Clint, my mom, Amelia and I went to Denny's for dinner Friday night. I got a free grand slam for dinner and shared some food with Amelia. She enjoyed eating the food with us and drinking water through a straw. The floor enjoyed eating the food she threw down too! Going to Denny's was the highlight of my birthday. Poor Clint got sick that evening with maybe a stomach flu or something.



On Saturday, Amelia started sounding and feeling like she was getting sick. She started getting congested and had a stuffy nose, along with a 101 degree temp. After Amelia had a good morning nap, my mom, Amelia, and I went to As You Wish Pottery to paint a plate. It was a yellow plate, says Cute As A Bug, and has a ladybug with Amelia's feet prints as the body of the ladybug. I will post a picture of the finished product when I pick it up on Tuesday.



Before we went to dinner, Clint gave me my birthday present. It was a gorgeous picture frame that he painted at As You Wish Pottery!! It is pink with black spots on the top and black on the bottom. The colors go with the outfit and picture of Amelia that he put in the frame when she was 6 1/2 months old. There are also three ladybugs; a big blue one representing Clint the daddy, a medium pink one representing me the mommy, and a smaller pink one representing Amelia the baby. There is a beautiful pink flower in the top corner and the words Happy Birthday with balloons in the bottom corner. I was quite surprised when I opened this gift up! Clint went to do this Thursday night and told me he was working late. I believed him because he does work late on occasion. He was very good at surprising me. I think this had to be one of the best birthday gifts I have ever gotten and was the highlight for Saturday.



Saturday evening, my dad, mom, Clint, Amelia and I went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. I had some coupons for free meals and they were going to expire so I figured we should use them. We enjoyed eating there because it was an all you can eat sort of buffet and the atmosphere is good for children, but the downside was that there wasn't really any meat. Again Amelia had fun eating all the different types of food, like Jello, cottage cheese, muffins, fruit, hard boiled eggs, veggies, ice cream, and strawberry lemonade. The floor looked like quite a disaster after we left!

My mom and I also scrapbooked Saturday evening after I put Amelia to bed. I have recently been working on scrapbooking all the pictures I have taken in the last 10 1/2 months. I am still on day 4! All of the pictures taken when she was first born and coming home are quite important and trying to figure out page layouts that are perfect takes a long time.

Amelia still wasn't feeling good Saturday night and woke up almost every hour it seemed like. I was in her room rocking her more than I was in my bed that night. Her poor little nose was all stuffed up with mucus/snot from laying down. When I rocked her in the rocking chair, she was laying more upright so the stuff could drain. When it would drain down her throat, it tickled her throat and made her cough. So she would be asleep in my arms, then cough, then cry because she woke up. I had to calm her back down again and she would fall back asleep but then a minute she would cough and cry all over again. I hate seeing my little baby girl not feeling well. I would rather me be sick and feel icky than her.

Sunday was pretty laid back. After church, my mom and I scrapbooked for a little bit while Amelia took a nap. We went to my in-laws for Sunday dinner. I got to eat off the special birthday plate. We had yummy pot roast, carrots, potatoes, salad, watermelon, and the best part....Cheesecake! I love cheesecake and Amelia seemed to love it too when I gave her tastes of mine. She wasn't much help at blowing out the candle. Instead she wanted to reach over and touch the flame.

Aside from Amelia not feeling very well, it was a pretty great birthday weekend. I had a few good days spending time with my family, ate some yummy food, and was wonderfully surprised yet again by Clint!