Sunday, August 11th, was our 6 year wedding anniversary. Six years already lol I think this was the lowest-key anniversary to date. Friday, Matt took work off, so we got to hang out. We went to AT&T and got new phones. Our renewal time was around our anniversary, and we'd both cracked the screens on our phones, so this was our anniversary present. More exciting was Matt okayed getting the newest phones. (Previously, we got what was highly discounted or free). I got the Samsung Galaxy S 4 and Matt got the S 4 Active. The Samsung representative was there showing off the active - like putting it in a bowl of water and taking pictures. He also had the Galaxy camera - so cool! Only downside was, in upgrading to 4G, we needed new SIM cards - so our contacts had to be re-added. Small price to pay for awesomeness :)
Yep, that was pretty much it. Happy anniversary!
(I worked all day Saturday and had to work from home for a little bit on Sunday night.)
So, these phones - epic! LOVE my phone. I went with the S 4 for the better camera. My Infuse was starting to replace my actual camera anyway, so I know that's a key feature for me. The processor on this phone is so quick! I was way giddy playing with the camera.
After stopping by the UVU library for Matt to take care of his note taking stuff (he took notes for someone with a disability - and they pay you for that...), we went to his parents' house to show off our new phones. Matt's dad apparently also got a new phone, and he got . . . . . . . . an S 4 Active! lol Dad's is blue, though. Matt got black - so we'll be able to keep them straight ;) They also had the missionaries over for dinner, so we stayed and had dinner and visited.
My baby girl is already 3/4 of a year old! My how time flies! She definitely thinks she's old now, too. This month has brought on our newest adventure - mobility!
It didn't take Henlie long to figure out this crawling business. For the longest time, I thought she may be one who skipped crawling all together as she hated being on her stomach but loved holding onto fingers to stand and walk. However, within a couple of days, she had it figured out. July 16th, she had backwards motion down, but forwards was still elusive. The next day, the 17th, she managed forward motion. What was it that finally convinced her to go forward? A nasty bone the dog had lying on the floor. Yuck. Since then, she has gotten more efficient and can go longer before needing a break.
We took these after church on Sunday - the lighting that time of day sucked, and she wasn't terribly happy to sit and get her picture taken. That's why she has the brush :)
My next surprise in her growing independence came only a few days later. On July 20th, I left her playing contentedly surrounded by toys and a diaper box in her room (diaper boxes make great toys) while I took a shower. When I got out, I checked on her, and she had pulled herself up with the diaper box, and managed to get around to the other side! I didn't know she could do that yet :)
How I left her....
How I found her....
As for food, we have gotten a bit more lax about what she can try. (Mini Nilla Wafers were a freaking life/sanity saver on our trip to St. George.) Henlie also shares more off of our plates, depending on the food. She is a really good eater for now. She hasn't had an aversion to anything or refused anything since ham in a jar. She has had small pieces of lunch meat ham, though, and done just fine. Some things apparently weren't meant to be bottled :) She can also feed herself finger foods (helpful with those Mini Nilla Wafers!) She can pick up Cheerios and pieces of bread and get them in her mouth. It's cute to watch :) A lot of times, to ensure she gets the food part, she eats her fingers too.
This is all she really wanted to do when I was trying to take her pictures. No sitting for this girl!
Along with this food business, she has gotten to the distracted nursing stage. She still nurses about as often as before (sometimes more when she's having a rough night), but not for as long. This has killed my supply. Pumping at work has always been a struggle, but now my morning pumping is just as bad most days. Oh well. Three more months and I won't mind if she gets most of her liquid elsewhere :)
This month, she also had the worst runny nose. Matt thought maybe she was sick, but she acted fine except for the leaking of her face. Sometimes she gets stuffy and wakes herself up from sleep from not being able to breathe well. She hasn't really acted sick at all, so there must be some other cause. For awhile, we thought it might be a tooth. She plays with her lower gum just left of center, and Matt says there is a bump there, but it has been a week or two now, and no tooth has erupted yet. I'm not entirely certain it is the cause of the runny nose. Or that we can really call this "teething." At her check-up, Dr. Fullmer didn't see any teeth yet, either. He figures it is just a cold. Fortunately, she's doing lots better now!
I finally got some smiles by playing peek-a-boo from behind the camera. See her crazy hair? That's what happens when you're fussing and slide down the chair!
Mentioning sleeping, my good little sleeper has turned into an awful sleeper! I try putting her to bed earlier, and she just wakes up an hour later. That is, if she actually went to sleep. Her sleeping patterns are all off. I've been really lucky that she hasn't woken much at night for most of her life, but this month has been a struggle! One night was particularly bad. I'd just gotten home from work at like 11:30pm, and she woke up. I nursed her and held her, and she finally went to sleep. I fed the dog, and food hitting the metal bowl woke her again. We nursed, and then she was done nursing, but not done screaming. When I finally put her down, I couldn't leave or she would cry again. I slept about an hour on her floor before she woke. After that, I was able to make it to bed, and she woke once more at like 4:30am. Then she was up her usual time between 7am and 8am.
Since Henlie's growth spurt last month, she has caught up in her clothes. It's weird to me because I'm used to her being about two months behind (ie. wearing 3-6 month clothes when she's 7 and 8 months....) She is in her 6-9 month clothes, and she's actually 9 months. Crazy :) Probably by next month, most of her 6-9 month clothes won't fit either. In fact, in a few things, she's wearing 12 month clothes (which is expected come 9 months, but weird for my petite baby). She has some shorts and a skirt that she can wear already that are 12 month. I also bought her a pair of 12 month PJs, since all of her PJs are only supposed to be good through 9 months. (Finding PJs I think are worth buying and that aren't, you know, Dora, is insanely ridiculous. Especially when I am cheap and don't want to order from Carters lol. This is why she only has one pair so far. Even walmart.com doesn't have any 12 month in stock of styles/designs I'd buy her.)
July 24th - first night in her new 12 month PJs. Had to use the flash, hence the face :)
We went back to Dr. Fullmer for her 9 month check-up on Monday, August 5th. She gained another 1 1/2 pounds. She now weighs 16 lbs. 8 oz. (22%). Her height is 27.25 inches (35%), and her head circumference is 17.25 inches (50%). Instead of hanging out below the curve, baby girl has surpassed the bottom curves and is hanging out on the middle curves. I figured she should at least be close the curve after her 8 month weight check, but who knew? And her weight when from less than a percent to double digits! Dr. Fullmer doesn't really know where she'll end up because she is still growing faster than the average kid, who by now, has had their growth taper off. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!
She is doing great. Developmentally, she's on par with average 10 month olds (the detailed questionaire they gave us to fill out was designed for 10 month olds...) She looked to me when Dr. Fullmer was listening to her heart and lungs, which is a good developmental sign. Only downside to our visit (besides getting her ears checked...she didn't like that one bit) was they didn't have her vaccinations recorded from her 6 month visit. She got them, though, so they were just going to record she got them all for us. (Different nurse than usual last time....) Aside from our monthly weight checks for her baby book, we'll go in again at 12 months! Three more months! Craziness.
I took the 24th off of work because at least one side of my family usually ends up doing something, and I didn't want to have to rush off to go to work.
We usually go to the Spanish Fork parade, but Matt wasn't in it this year. I found out Mapleton also has festivities on the 24th, so we were going to try to make it over there for their parade. Alas, Henlie didn't even wake up until 8am, so we didn't make it.
Since we missed the parade, I was going to take part 2 of my test for an at-home position. Unfortunately, it didn't work. This put me in a depressed mood for most of the day. (There is a deadline, which I was up against, and I couldn't get ahold of anyone helpful. Don't worry, a quick call to Ireland - where the recruiting office is - and we should be able to get back into the test....)
We finally left our house at about 1:40pm and headed to my Grandma and Grandpa Erdmann's. Tracy's family and Gary's family were there, so we got to see people and eat some KFC (thanks Uncle Tracy!). After everyone left, we hung out with Grandma and Grandpa for a bit before heading up the road to Grandma Wilson's. In theory, there was a last-minute impromptu BBQ at 2pm. When we got there, there was Elisabeth hahahahaha
We hung out chatting and eating cake. David and his kids came over for a little bit. They loved Henlie. Everyone loves Henlie, let's be honest. We also watched the first half of the USA vs. Honduras Gold Cup game before heading back home.
Henlie had another rough night getting to sleep. However, she slept pretty well once she got there. (She may have woken up once, but I really don't remember.) She didn't wake up until 6am this morning. That's a little early for her, but it worked out so I could call stupid Ireland. (They're 7 hours ahead of us.) She also went back to sleep for an hour after eating for about an hour.
Again, we ignored the fact there were fireworks this year. Maybe next year with an 18 month old it will be different. Maybe.
We took a quick trip to St. George July 20th and 21st for my nephew, Chase's, farewell. We left Payson at about 12:15pm. Henlie slept for about 1 1/2 hours. After waking, she was just chillin' for a bit, but then she got upset with the whole situation. We took a quick break in Cedar City to nurse while Matt went into Walmart and picked up some trail mix for him and Oreos for the BBQ that night at Makayla's.
Using the handles of her sippy cup on the drive down.
Lainee, Felicity, and Marquessa serenading us from the hot tub.
Chillin' on the grass at Aunt Makayla's
Mom, Myron, Dad, Makayla, and Dennis
Mom, Myron, Dad, and Greg
Once Greg informed me not to take pictures of him, it became my mission to take pictures of him ;)
I forgot I was zoomed in - but I think it's a fun picture anyway :)
Grandma coming to take a few pictures of her cute granddaughter ;)
Ryan and Matt
After the BBQ, we went to Dave and Lori's house where we were staying. We visited and played with the kids. They loved Henlie :) Henlie thought they were pretty great, too, especially all of the toys they were sharing with her. She had a hard time going to bed, though. I finally got her down about 9:30pm. I then went upstairs to finish watching soccer with Matt. I think we got to bed at about 11:30pm. Then Henlie woke at 1:30am. That was the longest stretch of sleep I got all night. She then woke at 2:10, and 3. I was up for about an hour with her then. She woke up again sometime in the 5 o'clock hour. It was ridiculous. I was quite tired.
Grandma Erdmann, Henlie, and Grandpa Erdmann
Henlie's way interested in Grandma's sunglasses!
Maritza, Myron, Ari, and Monica
Greg grillin' :)
I have Grandpa and a cup. Can life get better?
I submit that it canNOT!
Checking out something fascinating on Grandpa's shirt, I'm sure.
In the morning (the real morning when people wake up and move about, that is), we watched TV with the family and had homemade chocolate doughnuts. We headed back out to Santa Clara at about 12:30pm. We made it to church on time and had a place to sit thanks to the family. Henlie hung out with Mari and Ryan for the first part of sacrament meeting. I think Ryan is Henlie's favorite uncle now. He's like the baby whisperer lol
Baby whisperer in action.
Myron, Ari, and Grandma
Monica, Ari, and Grandma. Ari taking a nap :)
The last part of sacrament, Henlie hung out with Grandpa. Ari also came to play with Grandma for a bit. We shared toys when Ari started to fuss. I have to admit, I only heard part of Chase's talk due to the babies and the aforementioned exhaustion. (Sorry, Chase!)
Fascinated by Ryder's iTouch
Henlie, Ryder, and Rylee
All ready for church!
Great-Uncle Dave making funny noises :)
After sacrament, we went back to Makayla's for lunch. We scored comfy lounge chairs in the shade in the yard :) We had yummy food and chatted with family a little. We also filled out cards for Chase with an easy recipe on one side and advice on the other.
Henlie loves flying!
She lost her dress because it was just too darn hot...
Before we knew it, it was time to head home again. I think Henlie was asleep before we hit Bluff Street. She slept for about two hours. We got off in Fillmore for a potty break. I nursed Henlie and Matt took a nap. After a diaper change, we were back on the road. We made it home at about 8:30pm and put Henlie to bed after getting her a bath (the heat and humidity made her cradle cap kind of bad - and the wind got us kind of dirty...). (She was up the last bit home. Mini Nilla Wafers kept us sane. Can't cry if you're eating!)
The Missionary with Myron's family.
Myron, Maritza, Ari, Porter, Jaycie, Ellie, Chase
It was a short trip (they usually are), but it was fun to see family and get to see Chase off before he heads to Florida on his mission. He will do great! As for our short trip issue - we're planning on Thanksgiving this year and actually spending a few days in St. George :)
Henlie and Chase
Now to wait two years to compare!
Thursday, July 18th, we held a baby shower for Jackie. Camile has amazing artistic talents (yeah, I'm a little jeaous ;)) and made the cutest invitations and decor - water colored dinosaurs. Seriously, adorable. (I'd show you a picture, but I didn't take any....)
I made mini cheesecakes for dessert. I had to still buy supplies that morning, so we did that, and made 96 cheesecakes. Busy busy. As for toppings, I didn't want to force anyone into toppings, so I bought chocolate, carmel, and strawberry squirt bottles :) (Chocolate and carmel from ice cream toppings, strawberry was squirtable jam...) I think it worked out quite well - plus, less mess. Can't go wrong there!
I ended up dropping the cheesecakes and Henlie and Mocha off at Grandma's early because I had a primary presidency meeting. We were done by like 5:30, though (shower was at 6), so I made it back in plenty of time.
We had very yummy food and got to visit with family, which is always fun. Jackie got some cute stuff (again, I didn't feel like taking pictures, so I have none.....sorry.)
We're excited for Jackie and Curtis and their little boy - it's just unfortunate they are moving across the country in a couple of weeks (and about 1 month before the baby is due :( ) Pictures, Jackie. We'll need lots and lots of pictures! :)
The Payson Scottish Festival was held on July 13th. Matt was soloing in the morning at 10:15 and 10:30-ish. Henlie and I weren't having a good morning, so we didn't get there as early as I was hoping. Then, parking was awful. It always is, but we drove around for ages. I was just about ready to head home and say screw it, when a spot I've used in the past was open on my way out. It's about as far away as I was willing to park, so I flipped around and parked. We got to the park just after Matt's second solo.
The fun part of the Payson games is seeing lots of people I know. White Peaks wasn't playing since a lot of the band is in Nauvoo, but I visited with Natalie and Tashina. Next, I headed across the park to see Matt at the band tent, but he was rehearsing. I chatted with Janna for a bit before heading back to the competition field.
My family eventually made it over, so we set up shop next to them so I could feed Henlie. For the rest of the day, I hung out around the competition field, leaving our stuff for Steven to watch while I played social butterfly catching up with people. :) It was fun to see people (because I never see people anymore - not in real life. Yes, I'm partly to blame for that :)) We watched the grade 5 competiton and round 1 of the grades 4 and 3 competitions. After that, Henlie and I packed up (my family was all leaving anyway) and headed home. Matt made it home later and informed me the grade 4 had won both competitions. (I don't remember the other grades' standings.)
Truth be told, I'm kind of over Scottish festivals. They pretty much are all the same. They definitely are the same when you go to the same ones every year. Next year? I think Henlie and I will skip Thanksgiving Point for Art City Days. (I haven't been to Art City Days in years....like, since I started piping lol). We'll still go to Payson as that was always a tradition for me, and it's free ;) Regardless, once we finally made it to the park, we had an enjoyable time at the Payson festival this year.
Since it was last month, I don't really remember why Matt took a Thursday off, but he did, and we headed up to the zoo for the second time this year. A few months makes a difference when it comes to Henlie's interest in the animals. The zoo was much less crowded this visit.
This poor giraffe was trying so hard to get that leaf.
He was unsuccessful.
On the way back from the giraffes, Henlie managed to pull her headband in her face trying to get her flower clip :)
We made it up in the afternoon and found a great parking spot in the north lot. We stopped at the Beastro first thing to have some lunch. Henlie shared garlic knots with me. :) We sat next to the window facing the elephant's enclosure, and there was a butterfly hanging about that we got to watch while we ate. We also picked up some souvenir cups. They weren't that much more money than a regular cup to purchase, and the refills are cheap. Plus - lids! (The disposable cups don't have lids because they don't want things getting in the enclosures and dangering the animals.
Henlie at Rocky Shores - souvenir cup in the background.
Since Henlie can sit in her stroller sans car seat now, she could actually see some of the animals. She is still too young for them to hold her interest for very long, but at least she could watch!
We missed the bird show, but we caught an educational encounter at Rocky Shores.
It was a pretty toasty day. Even though we were still able to go through everything pretty quickly, the fact we got there late in the day and the heat made it seem like a full day! Matt and Henlie recouperated by napping on the way home. :)
