Our little mermaid!

Please ignore the face. I know it's scary...

We took little Gwendolyn swimming for the first time today, I wasn't sure what to expect... she LOVES her bath, but this water would be different. Meaning? Cold. When we got there Jeff hopped in first and I handed her over, she kind of gasped at first when her legs touched the water but she did really well. She started fussing when she got hungry but about 2 ounces of formula later she was tired of the bottle and ready to play again.This time I took her in the wading pool and let her stand on the bottom. She was THRILLED constantly cooing and blowing bubbles (raspberries) and smiling big cheeser smiles which are too cute.

When it was time to leave Jeff pulled her out of the pool and wrapped her up in the towel, and she was not okay with that. She cried pouty cries and fussed until I took her and put her feet back in the water. As soon as her feet hit the water all the happy squeals and cooing and bubbles came back. She is definitely a water girl and our little mermaid. We'll see how she does next time :)

3 months and Fathers day

I know it's a little late, but here is a pic from Gwen's blessing :) She was a beautiful little princess and SO well behaved! She is still growing up faster than I'd like but I love every minute with her!

Gwen turned 3 months last Friday, and on Saturday perfected the art of blowing raspberries... baby style. Meaning? Bubbles, drool and silly noises. She is SO cute with her new found talent! She has also started giggling as of last Thursday! (will post video as soon as I have it) We have started trying to go for walks everyday now as a means to get out of the house and be active. She still isn't a fan of the car seat (which attaches to the stroller) But we have fun especially when we get to go with Stacey and McCoy (our best friends) and it's so cute watching McCoy with her, he gets so worried when she cries and always asks to give her hugs! She is growing up everyday doing the most amazing things, it's so crazy how fast time has already gone! She has also realized when bath time is and will cry until she knows we've got the tub in the sink and are getting her ready for the bath, I honestly think we could make her bath as long as we want and she'll be happy the WHOLE time. She really brings so much joy and laughter into our lives and our home.
For Father's day (I know I'm a little behind..) I wanted to give thanks for the fathers in my life.

My dad is a great example to me, he didn't have the best situations growing up and definitely no good examples, but he is a good example to me. He's a hard worker and always takes care of my mom. One of my favorite memories growing up was that my mom and dad would always give each other some silly gift like disc launchers for Christmas and end up chasing each other and us around shooting foam discs at us. My dad knows how to be serious when needed, and silly (more often) He always told me to do my best and told me how much I could achieve. I love him for that! My family wasn't always an eternal family, I grew up going to church since I was born, but it was always my mom, me and sisters. But on September 10, 2004 we were sealed together as a family and it was such an amazing experience. Thank you Dad, for that special day and especially because by that one choice you will be able to have attended not only my wedding, but Annie's and Kori's too. It means so much! He is also a fantastic grandpa for Gwendolyn, everytime she cries around him he'll take her and say "Grandpa can fix it" He is so proud of her and it shows, I'm so grateful to have him close by and lucky to call him 'Dad'



I'm also grateful for Jeff's dad. Ray is another amazing Grandfather for Gwen and he is such a funny guy and I never see him without a smile :) I love being around him and seeing how great a dad he was to Jeff and his siblings. He is a great example to us in every way, and again we're so lucky to have him close by (both our families live in South Weber) I love being able to be so close to them.





I don't have any Grandfather's left on this earth, and to be honest I really only had one Grandpa, which is fine with me because he was worth 10 grandpas! My grandpa was a child at heart ALL his life. He always looked for the best in people and could always make us laugh. He was a naturally good-natured, and happy guy and I don't think anyone else had a grandpa quite like mine :) I could honestly write on for days about my memories of him and the great man he was (and is I'm sure, as I've noticed little things Gwendolyn does that make me think to myself 'She got that from Grandpa') I feel his eyes watching over me a lot and I miss him terribly. Even to this day we can't go into a restaurant without thinking of my grandpa. Turning the napkins into pirate hats and menus into telescopes capturing not only his grandchildrens but every other child in the restaurants attention and laughter. If I achieve nothing else, I want to be like my grandpa when I grow up!

Last, but not least... I'm so grateful for Jeff. He is such an amazing father to Gwendolyn, he does so many sweet little things with her that bring a tear of happiness to my eye. I love those little moments! He is such a great provider and I love spending every minute that we can together. He is a great husband to me and I love to support him in everything he does to see the joy in his eyes. He is so proud of his little girl and I can tell in every story he tells me about her when I'm not around. I look forward to raising a family with this wonderful man. I love you sweetheart! You can do and be anything you want and Gwen and I are behind you 100%

hungry? why not try a snowglobe?

Many of you know my grandmother is in a nursing home, she doesn't fit all symptoms of alzheimers or dimensia, but has her own take on them.
She does the silliest things, she knows who everyone is, but she can't put a normal sentence that makes any sense together, a few weeks ago we went to visit her with Gwendolyn so she could meet her great-granddaughter because she's been talking about her for MONTHS. We got there and waited at the end of the hall for her to come out of her room, when my mom wheeled her out she was not meeting any of our faces as she looked around and kept saying something to the effect of "and... I told him that... that... and you know now" my mom leaned in to her ear and said "Look who came to see you!"
no response
Mom- why don't you hold her down closer so she can see her better.
I crouch down holding little Gwen
Mom- Nana, look who came to see you.
Nana's response... Kick me in the shin.
I don't care how old she looks. The woman has a good leg and would do any wheelchair soccer team proud!
Needless to say, I left with my baby shin bruised and a grandmother who may or may not know we even came.

Then we went back up to have her (my grandma's) birthday party. We were in one of the dining halls, and we were having banana splits (nana LOVES her sweets) she was wheeling herself all over and kept running into the table and then yelling incomprehensible things at it for hurting her arm, every so often she'd take off into the hall and my uncle would follow her and bring her back. Soon he followed her no matter what since she was being so active. I heard later from my younger sisters that it seemed she had seen them from across the room and ZOOMED over there in her chair and the conversation went something like this
Annie and Kori- Hi Nana :)
Nana- All I can tell you girls is that I used to have a ladder
Uncle Beetle (Orley)- Yeah and it didn't work, cause Cheri still got back in the house!
(my mom's name is Cheri and she is the youngest in her family and her siblings like to tease her and say she was Nana's favorite and was treated better than the rest and my Uncle Beetle, whose real name was Orley, likes to tease my grandma by playing along with her nonsense sentences.) It may not seem funny to you, but it cracks me up! I love my grandma and I know that she knows it, and no matter what happens, I know she loves me and I know I will see her again.

Last night I was chatting with Annie when she tells me apparently my grandma had eaten some glass and Mom and Dad were at the hospital. I know you're all thinking the same thing I was.
Glass? Why was she eating glass?... And where would she find some to eat??

So I call my mom to see if she's okay, and to ask her to solve the glass eating mystery, and she tells me that my grandma has a snowglobe and must've knocked it off the table by her bed, then proceeded to pick up the glass pieces and start chewing on them... Glass. Seriously. Who knew?

Thankfully she was x-rayed twice and no glass shards have been spotted.
After this conversation with my mom I went to get ready for bed still thinking about my grandma and her glass eating skills. It was making me laugh again with how many silly things my Nana does, so I started texting my mom. The conversation went like this

Me- Only YOUR mom would eat glass
Mom-Yeah. Thanks :)
Me- How will you ever compete with her when you get old? She's already thought of everything!
Mom-She's taught me well, be prepared... :)
Me-I just don't see how you can top 'glass eating'
Mom-Yeah, I think I hope I pass on that one
Me-You better start documenting this stuff, Gwendolyn will never believe these stories
Mom-That's your job, you'll have to tell her the stories :)
Me-but how will I remember them if you don't write them down?
Mom-I might be too busy eating glass.

I know a lot of people including my mom sometimes get upset seeing my grandma do these things and slip further and further away. (which she's been doing since my grandpa died) But I'm really grateful for the time I have had o get to know her and love her and grateful that in this family we can find humor in her silliness instead of becomming depressed. She's led a fantastifc life and is loved so much more than she even realizes.

***mental note*** when I'm old and making less sense, I will hopefully train myself to eat some chocolate of strawberries (or both) when I'm hungry, I really do not find glass very scrumptious.

Time for change

Lately Jeff and I have been trying to decide whether or not to sell our condo and buy a house. It's been on our minds a lot in the past, but we haven't looked since last fall because I wanted to stay home with Gwendolyn as much as possible. Right now I am a full time stay at home mom which I LOVE! It is the greatest blessing to be able to spend time with her all day everyday. Although every once in a while, I find myself missing work. Missing the time I had to be away from my family, it made me miss them so much more and cherish the time I spent with them. I still work doing mortgages from home which is another blessing, but the concern Jeff and I have is that while working from home is working out great for our situation, it probably won't be able to qualify us for a mortgage to get into a house that costs much more than what we'd sell ours for. Now the decision is coming down to whether or not I should get a job again to get us qualified and into a house, or if we should continue to stay here. There are pro's and con's on both sides of course, but it seems like the pros to moving are outweighing the cons. So we've decided to list our house and see what happens. Today I will be spending most of my time cleaning and organizing the house so that we can get the MLS pictures taken. And it is at times like this, that I realize just how much junk we have accumulated. I think we could compete for a pack rat award of some sort. And it honestly feels like it could take WEEKS to get it all done.
But I am determined!
So anyone looking for a place to live... Our condo is 3 bed 2 bath and approx 1200 sq ft
parking is one covered and one uncovered and the area is well kept by the HOA

Update on Gwendolyn::: At her 2 month appointment she weighed 9lbs 14oz and was 22.5'' long
she's growing great and her height is average. Her weight is still in the 25th percentile, but she's completely healthy and has officially worn 2 outfits in the 0-3m size :D Congratulations sweetheart!
We also had some family pictures taken a few weeks ago, mostly I wanted some new ones of Jeff and me, but we're 3 now, so we did a mixture, I think they turned out GREAT!


so fun!!