Cousin Fun

This week we had two opportunites to play with family! On Wednesday we (Me, Jared and Paige) went over to Jenny's house for some smores and family! This was the first time a lot of my family would meet Paige. We had a blast up there, and Paige did so great meeting so many new people and being in such a loud environment (my family get togethers are FAR from quiet). I unfortunately forgot my camera and only had my video camera, so I have lots of video from that night but no pictures. Just trust me, we had a BLAST!

The next day Paige and I went over to Nikkis hosue to play with family again! I LOVED seeing them two days in a row!! The little girls could not get enough of Paige that day!

Paige playing with Sydney.
Hailey, I mean princess Snow White, and Paige.
Paige and Tess.
This little girl can not get enough of Paige! It is SO adorable! At the family smores night the night before Bella was ALWAYS by Paige's side when she met a new person. No matter who was holding her Bella would always help out and give lots of kisses and hugs to Paige. It was totally cute!
Raygan could not get enough of Paige either! She was not at the family smores night but when playing the next day, every five minutes she and Bella would come up to me and want to hold, Kiss, touch, talk to Paige. I LOVE that they love her so much! Hopefully we can live around them long enough for them to all play together! HOw fun would that be!?! We just LOVE family!!

Paige's Room

Here are some pics of Paige's room....ok corner of the room (other corner is the office)The complete view of her room! It is still trippy some times to walk in and see baby stuff. I wonder when having a baby is going to become normal and not so weird.
The changing table and bow holder. I would HIGHLY recommend a changing table to anyone. I absolutely LOVE it! This one my aunt Amy's husband made for their daughters and they so graciously passed it down to me! I can not get enough of it! It is so convenient and cute! (even tho I can't seem to keep it too clean, but its an organized mess haha)
This is a close up to the bow holder I made. This is the first craft I completed since Paige was born! It was nice and simple, and I really do like it, and its very convenient for her growing clip collection. (its all about cuteness and convenience with me)
And her crib. I am still just in LOVE with the bed spread! I think the dots and the colors are so happy, and basically just perfect!
This is my project that I just completed today! I am so proud of it! Way back in April, during conference weekend I was over at my aunt Nikkis house and saw these ADORABLE letters she had! She mod podges cute paper on them and gives them as gifts to ladies in her ward. So cute, and I just HAD to get some! She makes them as a display to put on top of a dresser or shelf, since I had neither of those I had to think of a cute way to display them. I have had many different ideas, and this is the final product, on the frame of a magnet board. I want to print pictures of our little family to magnet up there. That will come later. But I am very pleased with the way it turned out, and the way Paige's little room is coming!

Survived First Store!

We have not taken Paige to any stores yet. We don't want her to get sick, and one of us is always available to watch her while the other one goes out. Well today was different. Paige had 2 diapers left.......at like noon, and plenty of poops to come in the day. Jared had complications with some of his employees and had to work long hours and was not able to get home. Kalyn was in class and then studying. So it was up to me to brave the store alone with Paige! Adn we survived!! Paige was WONDERFUL! She did not cry and only fussed a little at the end, but a pacie put an end to that right away. I was so proud of us! => haha

At WalMart I bought little hair ties and cute bow clips. I had to see if I could do a "waterfall" on Paige.... guess what, I can! And I am totally in LOVE with it! You can't really see the hair sprouting up in this pic, but just trust me, its soooo cute!
Later that day I called my sister and asked her to come over. I was in DESPRATE need of grown-up interaction. Jared has been working like a mad man this week (putting in at LEAST 12hr days) so my adult interaction was drastically reduced to almost nothing.
I am so thankful Kalyn was free and willing to come play with me! Thanks so much! It was much needed! And we even went shopping and found Paige the cutest blessing dress!! I am so excited for her to wear it! =>

Overall, this was a very successful day! Paige and I survived our first trip to the store, and alone, and I have some fun girl time with my sister and daughter!

Sunday Family Day!

Today was Paige's first day to go to church! Up until now Jared and I would switch off sacrament meetings to go to (there are 3 that meet in our building) and todays we wanted to take Paige to see how she did (before her blessing) We still have not made it to our ward, it starts at 9 and its harder than we thought to get up and get ready after a long sleepless night.We went to the sacrament in the 11 o'clock time slot. Paige did ok. Well, she did pretty poorly actually, but she does have ear infections so we hope that played a MAJOR roll in her fussiness. She was calm is we were standing and rocking with her, so thats how the meeting was spent. But hey, we got thru it! Hopefully she will be back to her normal calm self for her blessing!! (please oh please!)

Today we also had our first family picnic! Ok so no food was involved, just lounging on a towel outside. It was a GORGEOUS day!

I am really LOVING going outside! Some time this week I hope to go to the pool to catch a little sun and take Paige swimming for her first time! We will see if that happens.
I had to put this picture up. Look at Paige's face! I thought it was hilarious! haha I wonder what she was going thru her mind to make a face like that haha.
Jared certainly loves his daughter.....especially when she is not crying => And he is hoping to make her into a real outdoorsy girl. We will see about that =>

When we gave Paige a bath that night we put her in her "rinsing tub" (she had piddled right at the end in her normal tub, so we had to rinse her off). She looked so cute and CHUBBY we had to document it. What a adorable little chubbers!

Day of Firsts

Today was a momentous day! More for me than for Paige, but she did do new things. Today was Paige's first time to play outside! I got her al ready with a cute and appropriate summer outdoor outfit. I loved it! Thought it was just so adorable!
I took her on a walk to get the mail. The whole walk (4 mins) she was fine, no crying or anything and was just looking all around. When we got home I wanted to document the big occasion, snapped this picture, then began the crying. For some reason (still not known) Paige just started screaming/crying. For like 5 mins! I could not do anything to calm her down. (But I do this this picture is so cute, just look at those CHEEKS!!!!) I called my Mom to see if there was a better way to ease Paige into new environments, so she doesn't freak out everytime. My Mom suggested trying to take her out again and if she cries when we come home a second time we know thats why she was crying, if not she was crying for some other reason.
So I decided this time I take her out we will find a good tree with nice shade and hang out underneath. Paige was WONDERFUL! When we first got out there she was a little skeptical, but that lasted less than two minutes.
She soon became wide eyed ans looked around. She even became a little chatter box! I LOVED it! She was so ADORABLE chatting around and gazing at all the new things. We stayed out for over an hour! It was a much needed change of scenery for me and a fun little adventure for Paige. (PS love this pic, it looks like Paige has my eyes! Yay!!! =>)

The next big this was Jared and I leaving her for the first time! We have both had her alone, and one time I even left her with my sister while I ran to the store for no more than 20 mins, but tonight we left her for a date! => Kayn was nice enough to offer to watch her while we get out and have some grown-up time!
We stayed out for just over 2 hours! (I couldn't leave her any longer than that. Baby steps, baby steps =>) It was AMAZING! I LOVE going on dates with Jared! Even tho our date was nothing big (dinner and ice cream) it made a HUGE difference in my attitude! And we came back home and everything was fine! Paige was alive and well, and Kalyn was still sane (Paige did not drive her crazy with fussing) and still in love with Paige! => I think thats a sure sign of a babysitting job gone great! =>

While these things probably do not mean much to Paige they mean a whole lot to me! I love getting out of the house, with or without Paige, and I love that I am getting comfortable with doing more things! Maybe I can survive this motherhood thing afterall. =>

First Sickies

Well, it finally hit us. The sick monster came to our family. Dang! It attacked Paige, the poor baby.
The last couple of days she has NOT been sleeping and has been the crankiest baby in the world. That is VERY uncharacteristic of her, she is normally the happiest, most chill baby ever! Last night she slept a total of 3 hours, not sleeping much the day before, and definately not sleeping today.
So Jared and I called the doctor to ask if there was anything we could do and they told us to come in. I took Paige to the doctors (Jared had to go to work) and they diagnosed her with an ear infection, in BOTH ears! Poor baby!
We got some medicine (the pink bubblegum kind haha) and went on home. As soon as we got home I gave Paige the medicine (hoping it would drastically improve her mood). She took it like a champ! I hope she is this good taking it everytime we have to give her some. And no later than 10 mins after I gave her the medicine she was out! Oh poor thing, she must have been so miserable!
I can already see an improvement in her mood, although it is not entirely back to normal. I just feel so bad for her! I hate being sick, I can't even imagine how horrible she must feel! I am so thankful we were able to figure out the problem and start getting it fixed!
And in other doctor news, the rash Paige has had for a while now, is due to te baby soap and lotion we use. Yep, the poor girl got my SUPER sensitive skin. Jared's big cheeks, hair, and big eyes and my stupid, ultra-sensitive skin. Sorry baby, I gave you a sucky thing! haha Luckily we already know what to do for that and how to avoid irritations. I guess thats one good thing about me having this skin haha.

Happy Father's Day!

Today is Jared's first Fathers Day as a father!! I think I am more excited than he is. => I wanted to do something special for him, so i decided to make him a nice cake (Jared doesn't like presents, mainly to spend money on presents, so I have to think of other ways to celebrate. & he can't get upset for me cooking haha. So a cooking treat it is!)

On one of my craft blogs I am addicted to they have a lady come and teach something about cake decorating each week. I have been reading and learning, so I figured I was up for the task of making a four layer fondant cake. The first step was to make the layers. Check. Second was to freeze them for at least 24hrs (make them not as crumply and easier to manage/frost). Check. Then I was supposed to stack them and frost them. I didnt even out the cake layers before I froze them, figuring it would be cleaner to cut a frozen cake than a warm one. BIG MISTAKE! Frozen cakes are HARD (who would have thought?) So I had to put even more force to cut the cake, and ended up slicing my finger pretty bad. Luckily Paige was asleep. So I cleaned the cut as best I could and got a paper towel to put pressure on it. After 10 mins I had soaked 1 1/2 paper towels in blood. I was getting nervous, so I called Jared and told him to come home. 20 mins after I cut my finger it was still bleeding. Jared got home and examined and cleaned it. Needless to say I was a little handicapped in the cake decorating department. While I was waiting for Jared to get home I finished dirty icing the cake (luckily I cut my non-dominant hand), but there was no way on earth I was going to make and mold fondant now. And Jared really wanted to eat the cake, so I let him. No more cutting frozen cake for me =>

As for Jared being a father...
His little girl just LOVES him! I can not believe how much of a Daddy's girl she already is! Whenever she hears him talk she will look around and turn her little body until she can see him and then she just stares. (She only does that for me when she is hungry, figures haha) And he can always make her smile!
And he is such a good Dad too! He loves taking care of her! He even changes diapers willingly, watches her when I need more sleep or to get out of the house, and anythign and everythign else needed to take care of a baby! And he never complains!
When I cut my finger yesterday Paige desprately needed a bath (her spit up got EVERYWHERE!) and Jared jumped right in and did it! He is such a dream! => Side note, Paige LOVES the bath! She will just lay there so calm and peaceful, and she is even starting to smile in it now! What she does not like is putting clothes back on. haha

This is Jared and Paige on their first Father's Day! You can often find them just chilling like this! They love eachother so much!!

And what kind of blogger mom would I be if I didn't post more pictures of Paige for her Grandmas (and anyone else who likes to see) => We took some pictures of Paige today to send to her Grandpas for Fathers Day, so that is what they are from.

Paige's little legs are getting so strong! She can hold herself up in a standing position for a couple seconds (i think 45 is her max) All we have to do is help her with balance! What an impressive trick at 5 1/2 weeks old!
She really does like to stand. She gets so frustrated sometimes and the ways to calm her down is to either stand her up or switch her around so she can see everything (social and curious baby)

I really need to hone my camera speed to be able to catch her smiling. This is the tail end of her smile, and its the onyl shot I got of her smiling spree. She went on smiling for about 10 mins and I either would not have the camera in my hands or had just taken a picture and it was loading. One of these days I will get a picture of her great, oh so adorable smile!
HAPPY FIRST FATHER"S DAY JARED!!!!

Dancing Baby

I don't like being home in a quiet house. I always have either the tv on or music playing. Last week I was dancing with Paige to some Disney tunes when Jared came home. He thought it was funny and made his own version of dancing with Paige (because Jared does not like to dance himself)

Milestones

Today has been a day of milestones:

-Paige turned 5 weeks old

-Paige officially outgrew all her newborn clothes and most of her 0-3month clothes. She is now wearing 3 month clothes!

-I gave Paige a bath ALL BY MYSELF!!! I normally have Jared to help me but I wanted to do it when he was working, so I did!! And we (Paige and I) both survived!! =>

-A rough weigh-in and Paige is 10 lbs, or very close to it!

Can she grow up and faster? I don't think so! My little baby is not so little anymore! I am a little sad about that.

Baby Olympics

Jared has always been a great Dad and is always willing to watch the baby and play with her. But as she is getting older and more stable he is enjoying it a LOT more! And he is so excited for when she can crawl and walk to do even more playing! Today he played "Baby Olympics" .....

We have Baby Football....
Baby balancing/sitting....
Baby javaline throw.....
Baby basketball toss....
And baby, well I don't really know what sport this would be, maybe syncronized swimming

And baby dive/roller coaster drop. This is the first step of this event...

And a perfect 10 landing!! (second step)

*please note no baby left the hand of her father during these events =>
Thank you to all competitors, you all did well. And the first place prize of the first annual Baby Olymics is.....*drumroll....... Paige and Jared!! Wooooo!!!! =>
Oh the love of a Father for his daughter! It is so cute to see these two together!!
And this picture is just to prove a point. I don't see any of me in my daughter, I just see a mini Jared. Jared does not agree with me. He says he can not see any of either of us and that she just looks like Paige. I direct your attention to exhibit A (the picture) They have the same expression on their face! I am happy that we have a family resemblance, but I hope some day I come out in her too. =>

Growing Up

Paige has grown up so fast already! I can not believe it! She is just over a month old now! Since 2 weeks old Paige has loved to look around and hold her head up. Now she is getting very good and stable at it!

She loves tummy time too (most of the time). She is already trying to crawl, and able to scoot herself if there is something for her feet to push off of.

These two pictures were taken on Jared's back. That was the best place to see how much Paige was holding her body up. My hand is just there because she is learning how to wiggle and contort her body, thus maing her fall off haha.

Paige is not the best sleeper. She will sleep when people hold her, but lay her down away from any person and she will wake right up. This can come in handy when she falls asleep when she is not supposed to, but it is also very frustrating when she will not sleep when she is supposed to. Paige also hates being swaddled tight. She sleeps with her hands above her head and feet spread apart. But sometimes she gets too tired to sleep, and we have to resort to swaddling her in what we call the "straight jacket". It is a velcro swaddling blanket. This one particular day Paige had not slept since 7:00am and it was 5:30. That is over 10 hours of a baby being awake. No bueno. Babies need to sleep, but she refused. So I swaddled her and layed her in her crib to cry herself to sleep. She only cried 10 minutes and then stopped. I went to go check on her. She was asleep. Halelujah! But she had also escaped! Her little hand was now by her face! So cute! She is one crafty little escape artist! haha

This was on another day. Jared had been gone since early that morning and Paige was having a SUPER cranky day. I have never seen her so cranky! And it was definately taking a toll on me. That night I called Jared just sobbing and told him he needed to come home now because I couldn't do it anymore. (I might have been a little dramatic, I'm working on that) So he came home, calmed me down, and took over watching Paige while I took a nice shower. When I came out, very much relaxed and back to normal/sane, I came out to see this. All Paige needed was to cuddle her Daddy! And Jared had fallen asleep too! What a cute thing! And Jared is an AMAZING man! I love him and could not do this without him!

This Tuesday and Thursday I had the opportunity to go over to my aunt Lindsey's house and play with family! Tuesday was Paige's one month birthday! What a great way to celebrate! And it was a much needed opportunity to get out of the house! (and Paige's first besides the doctors). My cousin Raygan was so excited to be able to hold baby Paige! It was precious! We just love playing with family! And are so excited to start going out of the house and playing! After a month of staying at home, who owuldn't be? haha

Playing With Paige

Ok, so when I was pregnant I promised myself that my blog would not be all about the baby, and still be about mine and Jared's life/doings. Well, I am failing miserably at that. haha Mostly because our life consists of Paige and playing with her. And I am ok with that (for now, but I would like more adventures with Jared haha)

But today we took pictures of us playing with Paige. We just love this girl! And love playing with her! (and we can't wait until she gets a little older to be able to interact wiht us more!)

This one is while we were all playing with a fun toy my grandparents gave her! Jared had this idea for a picture, I think its pretty cute! =>
Then we wanted to see what Paige would look like with longer hair. haha SHe had fun with it for a while, and then got frustrated with hair always being in her face. So cute! =>
After hours of playing and story time Paige was out for the count! I guess playing with the parents really takes a lot out of you! => She was lying on Jared's chest while he was lounging on the bean bag. I fell asleep on the couch next to him, and she fell asleep on his chest. After letting her sleep there for a couple hours (and after I woke up) he decided he wanted to get up and tried an experiment of leaving Paige on the bean bag (seeing if she would stay asleep, thinking she was still cuddling Dad). It totally worked! And she looks dang tiny on that huge sac! We love our little girl!

EcoSure Wives Meet Paige

On Thursday "the wives" came over to play and meet the new addition! We have not been together since Denver, so almost a year ago! And we are all living in Utah, relatively close, how fun is that!?It was so fun to see Julie and Danae again! They came over and we just chatted for HOURS! It was great! And a much needed break from being home alone all day with Paige (for almsot a month!) I am so excited that Paige is getting healthy enough, and old enough for interaction with other people! It makes my life not so lonely and mundane! haha I LOVED seeing these girls again! Thanks for coming over, both Paige and I enjoyed it very much!!

Memorial Day Nature Walk

I do not always enjoy Jared's job and the hours he works, but I love that he can take off when he feels like it. He took holiday on monday, so we had the whole day with him!! To celebrate Memorial Day we went on a family nature walk! It was our first family outing, and it was GREAT!!

We went to the Bridal Veil Falls area and walked along the trails. Jared and I had gone here once, when we first moved to Utah, and the nature was all fall colored. That was pretty, but it was fun to see it all green!
Jared was champ at pushing the stroller! I LOVED watching him push it! He is such a cute dad!!
Me and my little girl in nature! => Ok, nature with a paved walkway, but it still counts haha. Paige did so good on our walk! We were walking for about an hour and a half and she only started fussing at the end (because it was her feeding time). It was GREAT to get out of the house! And it was even greater to be out and playing with Jared! I think it should become a regular occurance to go out in nature and play together. We will see how good we get at it =>
When we got home I wanted to take a picture with my little girl. The only ones I have of us are in the hospital, and now she is 3 weeks old!
And of course we had tog et a family picture! Look at our cute little family! I LOVE those two so much!! I am so glad we were able to go out and play and celebrate Memorial Day!!