.:I think my heart just stopped for a minute:.

The mechanic just called.

Let's just say the problems with the Pathfinder are not the quick, easy, minor fix we were hoping for.

Ouch.

(I hope it gets done tomorrow. I hate not having a car!)

.:Eight Months:.

Check out those piggies! She is just too cute! Reece is such a sweetheart. She is just growing up way too fast. I'm constantly amazed at how much she learns and grows every day. We're having so much fun with her, and can't wait to see what funny new thing she is going to do next!

At eight months Reece loves:

- Smiling
- Laughing
- Crinkling her nose
- Rolling all over the place to get where she needs to be
- Getting up on her toes or hands and knees
- Talking
- Making funny sounds
- Eating: string cheese, noodles, rolls/bread, otter pops, graham crackers
- Sitting
- Grabbing her toes
- Playing with toys: ring stacker, keys, bunny, plastic rings, phone rattle
- Reading books (she loves pictures of dogs!)
- Watching T.V.
- Being naked
- Baths
- Her binky
- Mom's jewelry
- Going for walks
- Sleeping on her stomach
- Grabbing and pulling on her crib bumpers and the blankets hanging from the crib (it's time to lower the crib I think!)
- Grabbing/touching faces (especially noses!)
- Watching the fish

At eight months Reece doesn't like:

- Getting dressed (She is getting a lot better at this! It's just a semi-freakout instead of a major freakout now)
- Getting in the car seat (This is almost over, she hasn't complained once the past week of doing it!)
- Getting her face washed off - major freakout!
- Getting her nose wiped

Reece is just the cutest, and we feel so blessed to be her parents! Here are a few recent pictures of our precious girl.

Pretty in pink
Look at my teeth!
I'm a binky baby!

.:This Week:.

This week I am looking forward to:

- Family BBQ today (and Reece's debut to this side of the family!)
- Luke's birthday party
- Getting the pathfinder back (I hate not having a car!)
- Our ceiling getting painted (the hole is patched, but just needs to be painted and it's fixed!)
- Making more leggings
- Hanging out with Natalie
- Playing with Reece and watching her learn new things!
- Date nite with Josh hopefully
- Youth Temple Celebration performance
- Working out

(Book club would be on here, but I can't go because I'll be at the dress rehersal for the Temple Celebration. Bummer!)

Happy Monday!

.:Crochet flower leggings:.

My niece's birthday is coming up in June, and I found adorable leggings online. They were made out of tights and crocheted flowers. They were pretty cheap, but I still figured why not make my own instead of paying someone else to do it! My friend's daughter is turning one, so I decided to make some for her. (Sorry Natalie, if you're reading this - act surprised!)

First, you need to know how to crochet a flower. I only know a few basic crocheting stitches, so I looked around online and found this great video tutorial.

I crocheted two multi colored flowers, using cream and pink. Then I bought some tights at Wal-Mart. I cut the feet off, and then used a needle and thread to attach the flowers to the leggings. I also made a matching crochet flower clip to go with the leggings. (You can see a picture of it with these other clips here.)

They are super cute, and super easy! Of course, I had to try them on Reece (don't worry Nat, she was clean!) You can't see them too well - it would have been more helpful if Reece could stand on her own, but you get the idea. Think how cute under a jean skirt, or some sort of tunic dress!

.:When it rains, it pours:.

So, we have finally been feeling pretty good about being on top of our finances, for the most part. But of course, just when we start feeling comfy, a million things come up that cost money. Lots of it.

- New windshield on the Accord
- License & registration on the Accord (which also means safety and emissions!)
- Tuition
- Books (it is really ridiculous how much college texts cost)
- Appraisal to get our house re-financed
- And....the check engine light on in the Pathfinder. We'll be going to the shop today. Hopefully it's something minor!

Luckily, Josh has been so smart and has been sneakily saving up some money. It definitely won't cover all of this stuff, but it will at least take a nice dent out of it.

Happy May to us!

.:Life is good!:.

Things are going well for us. Nothing too exciting going on, but that is not always such a bad thing! Reece has been really stuffy and coughing a lot, and I don't know if it's from teething, allergies, or if she's caught a cold or something. She has never really been sick before, so this is kind of new to us! You can tell she's off, but she is hanging in there, trying to be happy.

Josh is busy with both of his jobs, and started school this week. He is taking two online classes this summer in preparation for starting the radiology tech program this fall. I don't know how he stays on top of everything he has to!

And, I'm just home, being a mom and loving it!

Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to lately.

Looking good in the new pants Grandma Z made for Reece!
And another cute picture in the capris Grandma Z made! (I've already commissioned her to make some more for Reece once I get her some material - they are to die for!)
Life doesn't get much better: toys and Baby Einstein - kicking back on a lazy Sunday.
Reece was playing with toys this afternoon. I went to pick her up to go feed her lunch, and this is what I found. I have no clue how she got both of those on her feet!
Enjoying a popsicle! This is one of Reece's new favorites!

.:Oregon:.

Reece and I made the trip up to Oregon to spend some time up there with my parents. Josh was nice enough to let us go for a little over a week! My sister and sister in law both came down with their kids, so it was a crazy week with five kids running around! My dad had been down here visiting, so Reece and I decided to make the car ride up with my dad. Ten hours in the car! I was a little bit worried about how she was going to do, but she was a perfect angel! She was so happy, ate when she was supposed to, napped when she was supposed to, and I just could not have asked for better! I was so proud of her, and so grateful that things went so well. Here are some pictures and a re-cap of our trip!

Reece in the car playing with whatever I could give her!

Reece's first time without a baby bath tub! She loved it!
Fresh out of the bath. Check out that curl!
Hanging out with Grandpa before bedtime.
Something was funny!
Cousin Andi taught Reece everything she knows! :)
Stare down with Grandma Z.

Look at the cute pants Grandma Z made for me!
Gray and Carter trying to escape downstairs!
All of the kids loved being around Reece and giving her toys. It was so cute!

The weather wasn't the greatest while we were there, but we still tried to get out on walks as much as we could. My parents live on top of a mountain, and the view is incredible! There were always lots of caterpillars on the road, so we always stopped to check them out.
Reece and Mommy on a walk.
Reece wasn't quite ready to get in the big tub with the rest of the kids. They had a great time splashing around!
Carter, Cal, Gray, and Andi
Gray and Carter after the bath.
Gray and Carter watching Baby Einstein with Reece after breakfast!
We went to the Children's Museum while we were there. It is a nice little addition to K-town. There was nobody else there except for us, so we had free reign of the place. There were lots of instruments to play, trains, a dentist chair, a fire truck, and all other sorts of fun things. The kids had a great time, and it was nice for them to get out of the house for a little while.
We attempted to get a picture of all of the kids together on a walk - this was the best shot we could get! Andi is showing a little belly! :)
We had a couple of girls' nights while we were there. The first nite, we went to see 17 Again. Cheesy, cute, predictable movie. I loved it! We ate lots of popcorn, drank lots of diet coke, and got the giggles big time. It was fun! Another nite, we had Kelda come up and teach us how to make books from scratch. Now I'm addicted! I'm already trying to figure out if there is somewhere in the valley that sells the supplies. I had a couple of mistakes with my book, but I am still pretty satsified with mine! Here we are at work.
We went to the park on one of the last days there. It was nice for the boys to run around, but Reece was being a little crab cake. (Remember the two teeth she just cut!)
Check out that hair blowin' in the wind! It's getting so long! (Don't mind how gross I look!)
Reece and I flew back to Utah. We had to change planes in Portland. I was a little nervous about her on two different flights, right during her nap time. The planes are super small, so if she was going to have a rough time, everyone on the plane would know about it. But once again, she was perfect! We were lucky to get an extra seat for her for both flights. She played with toys, ate lots of snacks, and even fell asleep in my arms during both flights - that never happens anymore! She was such a good girl!

We had a great time with all of the family, and it just made us even more excited for Sunriver this summer! Reece may be mobile by then, so I think those five kids are going to have a great time together. Sounds like trouble!

.:Teeth and Bottles:.

We have had an eventful couple of days at our house. Well, eventful for us! Last week while Reece and I were in Oregon, I really thought that she was seriously teething. Her nite sleep was off, she was fussy, drooling tons - just every ambiguous teething symptom there can be! Well, on Wednesday, I was feeding her dinner, and I told Josh that I was pretty sure I could see two of her teeth. And I was right! Her two bottom front teeth are just starting to come up - they have barely broke through the surface, but I can see and feel the little ridges of both of them. I can't believe that my baby has teeth now! Like I said, they are just barely starting to come through, so I don't know how long it will be until you can really see the tooth, but it will be fun to see what she looks like with teeth!

Starting about a few weeks ago, Reece started showing some signs that she was going to start weaning herself from breastfeeding. While we were in Oregon, I decided to start offering her a small bottle after she got done nursing because it didn't really seem like she was nursing for very long or that she could be getting enough. Sure enough, she was gulping those bottles down with no problem. I felt kind of bad, like maybe she hasn't been getting enough for awhile! I figured that I would keep doing the nursing/bottle combo as long as she wanted to, knowing that there was a risk she would eventually prefer the bottle over nursing. I just didn't expect it to happen so fast! Reece is totally done with nursing now! She refuses to even try to nurse at this point. I tried for a day and a half to keep offering her nursing first, just to know for my peace of mind that I had tried before we threw in the towel. So bottles it is! I feel a little bit sad about it - I am not sure I was quite ready for it to happen so fast. Even with all of our struggles with nursing, I grew to love it. I would probably feel worse if she wouldn't have already started showing signs on her own that she was ready to be done. Babies are on their own timetable, and this is just her time I guess! And to look on the positive side, at least I won't have to deal with those little teeth biting me! :)

.:So sad....:.

This story is so sad. Kayleigh's mom, Aimee, was a part of my September 08 Birth Club on babycenter. I've been following her story ever since Kayleigh was born early, this past June.

http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/

It is just heartbreaking, and makes me cry everytime I read something on there. I can't even imagine going through what this couple have gone through, and am so impressed with their strength.

Check it out if you want....it's a tear jerker.

.:This Week:.

This week I am looking forward to:

- Being back home with Josh!!!
- Working out
- Craft group
- Nice weather and going on lots of walks
- Being with Reece and her cuteness every day
- Going to the temple (hopefully!)
- Going to the library

Happy Tuesday! (Yeah, I'm a day late!)

.:Mother's Day:.

These two ladies are who were on my mind today: my mom and my daughter.

First of all, my mom. I am so grateful that I had a mom who was able to stay home with us, growing up. She was able to be there for all five of us kids, for everything! She helped us to develop the relationships within our family, and is why we are all so close today. My mom is a great example of being devoted to your family. She taught us to be ourselves, and to never be ashamed of who we are. I also loved that I had the 'cool' mom when I was in high school. My friends loved coming over to hang out with her! She is so much fun! I really admire her openness, honesty, integrity, outgoing-ness (is that a word??), silliness, spirituality, strength, musicality, beauty.....I could go on and on. She has taught me so much about being a wife and a mother. I look up to her more than she probably knows, and I feel so blessed to have such a great example in my life. I love you Mom!

And of course, Reece has been on my mind, too, as I've thought about what being a mom means to me. Being a mom is the most rewarding, frustrating, difficult, fun, amazing job that I have ever had! Nothing can really explain what I feel when I get a smile out of Reece, and know that it is just for me. It is pure gold! I love that she loves me, and that she needs me. She has taught me to be more selfless, and to serve others better. Her laugh is such a magical sound! All of the troubles we went through to get to where we are now were worth it and then some. I can't imagine our lives without her, and I would do it a million times over if it meant I still got to be her mommy. She is our beautiful girl, and I just love her so much!

Even though there isn't a picture of him on here, I just have to say that Josh plays such a huge part of this as well. He is so supportive of me and of our family. It means the world to me that he is so willing to work so hard so that I can be at home with Reece. I appreciate his parents bringing him up in the gospel to be a worthy priesthood holder in our home. He's been there through all the craziness of us learning how to be parents, and helped me to get through it all. Josh has a strong sense of family, and of what is right, and that is so important to me. He is such a great husband, and the best dad, and I feel so incredibly blessed to have him for my best friend and eternal companion. I love him so much!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful women!

.:This week:.

This week I am looking forward to:

- Being in Oregon with my family!
- Playing with my nephews and niece
- Watching Reece play with her cousins, aunts, and grandparents
- Working out

That's really about it - this week is all about family and Oregon!

(Both Reece and I really miss Josh, though, and wish he were here with us!)