To My Sweet 11 Month Old Baby Girl

Wiggle-Wart,

You are a curious, squirmy, wiggly, little girl who never has one second to hold still, unless you are sleeping.  We took pictures with the SAAS cousins (Sadie, Avery, Adalyn, and Sonja) all in matching outfits, and were such a little trouble maker.  Because you are the oldest cousin, you are the first to become the most mobile, and while we were taking pictures, you were only interested in crawling away, or worse, crawling on top of your smaller, helpless cousins.  Luckily, we still were able to get a few good shots, and we were all able to laugh about it at the end of the day.

You are a happy little girl and love to jabber and giggle all the time. Your favorite jibber jabbery things to say are "diddle deedle dee" and "da da lum."  I'm not sure why those are your favorite noises, but they are so silly to listen to and you keep all of us giggling.  You also love to say "mom mom mom" over and over again. I don't think you really know that the word "mom" means me, but you seem to get that it means "help me" or "pay attention to me" or something like that.

You get very, very giggly when you are tired, and you will giggle at the funniest, smallest things. One night during dinner you hadn't gotten any good, long naps, but later that night while we were eating, I would look up from my plate while I was eating my dinner and just look at you, and you thought that us making eye contact was pretty dang hilarious.  You love being tickled, and it is so fun for us to play tickle games with you.

The other day we were playing with your toys in your room.  I picked up a stuffed animal and cuddled it like it was a baby.  I was trying to show you how to snuggle and love on it, and you got very jealous!  You started shrieking and crawled into my lap, and threw the stuffed animal away from me.  I hope you handle things better when we decided to have another baby and I'm holding a newborn all the time.

We got to visit Flaming Gorge this month and you got to see Great Grandma and Great Grandpa for the second time.  They loved you, and were so amazed by how much you had changed since you were only 4 months old the last time they had seen you.  You are almost walking, and you would cruise along all of their furniture, which they thought was amazing.  Great Grandma is an amazing mother, and I tried to get as much advice from her while we were there as I could.  She told me to love you and to be polite towards you.  She told me that you are the most important thing that will ever be in my life, and to always be kind towards you, even if I feel myself trying to lose my patience.  I will try to do my best at this, sweetheart.

I love you so much, baby girl.  I have loved having you in our family, and I can't believe it's almost been a full year since you joined our family.  You are the best first child I think I could ever have, and I am so glad I get to spend all day every day with you.

Love,
Mommy

To My Sweet 10 Month Old Baby Girl

Bug-Bug,

You turned 10 months old on the 4th of July, and we had a blast celebrating!  We started off the day at a hot air balloon festival with Daddy's side of the family, which you thought was very fascinating.  We then headed up to spend the day with my side of the family and watched a parade, went swimming, and had a BBQ.  At the end of the day, we watched fireworks, and even though you were so tired, you stayed awake, and you loved watching the sparkly sky.

This month you took swimming lessons with me, Aunt Autumn, and your cousin Avery.  You love swimming so much, and if I would let you, I'm sure you would stay in the water all day every day.  I was worried you would be nervous about being in the water, but you were always so happy and loved kicking your legs and splashing in the water.  We even practiced dunking you under the water, and while it wasn't your favorite, you didn't even cry.  We spent a lot of time this month at a water park, and you loved crawling around in the wave pool.  You were sometimes a little too brave, and would crawl in too deep, so we'd have to really stay close by and watch you, but you always loved being in the water.

You are a very fast crawler and love to get into everything.  If I take my eyes off of you for only a couple of minutes, sure enough, you will try to tip over containers, empty baskets, and make all sorts of messes.  Even with all chasing after you I have to do, you are still so sweet and happy that I can't help but just laugh.

This month the last of the four baby girl cousins we got in our family was born.  Sonja was born a couple of weeks early, on Aunt Alicia's birthday.  You actually got your first cold the day before she was born, so you didn't get to meet her until about a week later.  I can't wait to watch you four girls as you grow up, I'm sure you girls will be great friends and have a lot of fun together.

You also decided this month that you were too grown up for baby food.  You had only been eating pureed foods regularly for about two months, but once you had six teeth, you were much more interested in eating whatever your daddy and I were eating instead of the mush we had been giving you.  You love feeding yourself little pieces of food, and your favorites right now are green peas, zucchini, tomatoes, and cheerios   You are such a good eater, which makes me so happy!

You are a hoot, little girl.  I love you to the moon and back, and I am so glad that you are my sweet little girl.

Love,
Mommy

To My Sweet 9 Month Old Baby Girl

Sweet Pea,

This month marks the month that you have now spent the same amount of time in the real world as you did growing inside of me!  Crazy thought!

This month you consistently will clap for yourself or other people, give high fives to those around you, and do other silly things to get a reaction from people.  You love to make people laugh and you adore any kind of attention you can get.

You crawl crazy fast now, and everything has to go right in your mouth while you are exploring the world.  One night Daddy was playing tennis with his friend, Wyatt, and you snuck a leaf in your mouth without my seeing.  I didn't know it was even in there until you started coughing and gagging on it, and I was able to get it out of your mouth.  It was kind of scary for me, and I've had to watch you a lot more carefully now to make sure you are kept safe.

Your hair is finally long enough for me to put two piggies on the top of your head.  You definitely look like your nickname now--Bug.  They are so cute, I melt a little every time I see you with them.

You cut FOUR teeth this month, bringing your grand total up to six little teeth in that cute mouth of yours.  You, my little bug, were a monster while you cut all of those teeth, and you did not want to take naps.  When I would lay you in your crib, you would just stand up to the side and cry and scream and not nap at all.  You were also running a fever and had a runny nose and were so sad with all those teeth coming through, so I spent a lot of time snuggling you and trying to help you feel better.

Your daddy and I celebrated our third anniversary this month, and we decided to take a family day-cation up to the zoo. You really enjoyed yourself and loved having so many different things to look at.

We celebrated our first Strawberry Days with you this year as well.  That week we were also babysitting my cousin's three little boys, and they got to celebrate with us.  We went to the carnival, the parade, Huck Finn Days, and entered you in the baby contest.  It was a fun week, and you loved having those boys to play with too.  You actually love all little kids in general, and love being around them and trying to copy them. Are you sure you were supposed to be an oldest child?

Other favorites this month were going to Seven Peaks a lot--your favorite is the wave pool, and visiting Thanksgiving Point Gardens--you still love going for walks and being outside, and you love playing with your cousins.  You are growing up so fast!

Sadiebug, you are precious.  You are sweet, you are kind, you are so important, and I love you so much.
Thank you for being my very own,
Love,
Mommy

To My Sweet 8 Month Baby Girl...

Sweetheart,

This month was such a fun month with you!

At the beginning of the month, your Aunt Rilee left for her mission.  It's a weird concept to think that while she will be gone you will change SO much and SO quickly. We've promised to keep her very up to date with letters and pictures, and she has loved hearing about you.

One of your favorite things you figured out this month was how to pull yourself up to standing next to objects. You love grabbing onto the handle on the drawer of your dresser and standing up next to it.  One day when I was trying to lay you down for your nap, you pulled yourself up to the side of the crib and stood there giggling at me.  You were in a very silly mood, and every time we would make eye contact, you would get a new wave of giggles started.  I even got out the camera and took a video of you, and whenever I watch it, I can't help but get the giggles myself.  Your happiness is so contagious!

Another silly thing you have been doing is you will crawl up to something like a wall or a doorway or the leg of a table and head butt it by rocking back and forth, and while you bonk it with your head, you will do this cute little snorting sound.  After a while of this, you will sit back and clap for yourself.  Speaking of clapping, you are doing that all the time now, and you love having people clap for you too, you get so excited and will clap back.

For a couple days in a row, you would tuck your toes into the bottom of your pant legs so you would be standing on them, and then crawl right out of them.  I could not keep your pants on you to save my life!  I guess that trick got boring because you lost interest in your trick by the end of the week, and started keeping your pants on again.

You love taking walks, and me and my friend Katie will take you and her son, Coleman, out to walk around at different parks.  You are loving the warmer weather, and love being outside.

We took your first major vacation this month.  Uncle Phil, Aunt Jenny, and our family all went to San Diego together for a week, and we had so much fun!  The first day we went to Sea World, and your favorite thing that you got the most excited about were watching the puffins, falling asleep with your sun hat over your face during the dolphin show, and having so many people pay attention to you.  We had so many people stop us and tell us we had one of the cutest babies we had ever seen, and we can't blame them, you are hands down the cutest baby we have ever seen too.

We took you swimming at our condo for the first time.  I was afraid you would be scared while you were in the water, but you were so happy and kept kicking your little legs and squealing.  We were hoping you wouldn't mind the ocean the next day when we took you to the beach, but we were wrong!  When we put you in the water, you cried because you thought it was too cold!  However, the beach was not a total bust, because you loved eating the sand by the handfuls (you had the weirdest diapers for the next few days), and crawling over to strangers and smiling at them.

Our last day we took you to the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier that they turned into a museum.  You loved being carried around and looking at the displays.  There were some old men that worked at the museum, and they thought you were so cute, they gave you your own wing pin to wear, which was so cute.  That night we went to Old Town to visit the Mormon Battalion museum, and then went to dinner.  It was colder that evening so we visited some shops to try and find hoodies to wear.  Phil already had his hoodie with him, and he was worried about you getting cold, so he took you and cuddled you inside his hoodie to keep you warm.  After a long week of fun, and after getting all cuddly and warm, you fell right asleep in his arms, and it completely melted his heart.  Right now Uncle Phil and Aunt Jenny are trying to adopt a baby, and getting to play with you for an entire week had them all wrapped around your little chubby baby fingers.  They love you so much, you are lucky to have them in your life.

Sweetie, so many people love you, and you are a blessed little girl, and don't you forget it!
Of course, no body could ever love you more than your daddy or me!
Love,
Mommy

Sister Rilee Belnap

After 7 years of trying to get pregnant, my parents adopted me as a newborn.  8 months later, my mom got very sick.  After going to the doctors, she found out she was pregnant, and when I was 17 months old, my little sister, Rilee, was born.  Although we were very close in age, we couldn't have been more different people.  In fact, we purposely chose interests that would make us basically polar opposites.  I loved dance, so she chose sports.  She loved Harry Potter books, so I refused to read them.  When we were little I had short hair, and she had long hair, and as we got older, I grew my hair out, and she kept hers bobbed.  I'm outgoing, and she is as shy and quiet as can be.  We are so different, but I love this girl.

This girl is always thinking of others.  She serves others without a second thought.  She gives everything to those she loves. She is so calming.  She is a wonderful listener.  She is funny and cheerful.  She is tender hearted and one of the sweetest people I have ever known.

Right after the new year she received her mission call to Kobe, Japan.  It couldn't have been more perfect.  Rilee has been studying Japanese all through college, and she has already fallen in love with everything culturally that she has come across.  When she opened her call, she burst into tears because the call was a complete dream come true for her. 

Yesterday she started that dream.  For 18 months, this great girl is going to be serving the people of Japan.  Before she entered the MTC we went out to lunch and she told me "I only have one goal today, and that's to make new friends."  I haven't heard from her yet, but I'm sure she did just that, and will continue to do so for the remainder of her mission.  I miss her, and I'm sad that I can't talk to her whenever I want to, but I am more excited for her than anything.  I know this is where she is supposed to be, and I know she will grow so much from this experience.  I am so looking forward to hearing from her and learning about her first few days, her companion, and how everything is going.

  This little girl will be just over two years old when her auntie comes home.

We'll be sure to send Rilee lots of pictures and updates, and we'll also show Sadie pictures of Rilee so hopefully she will know who she is when she comes home.

Here are all of the Belnap sisters.  

Rilee, Me, Emily, and Dawniel

I am so blessed to have so many sisters, I hope Sadie has a few sisters of her own someday.  

I love mine so much my heart could just burst.

Ready or not, here she goes.  This picture makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time. She looks so timid and unsure that I want to just jump in there and protect her, but at the same time, I love that she is not looking back.  Even though she is scared, she is facing forward, ready to tackle her fears head on and get out there!  I admire her so much!

Quarter of a Century+Cutest Baby Ever

This post is very, very, very late, but about six weeks ago (I told you it was late), Logan turned 25.  He is such a great husband and daddy, so Sadie and I wanted to do a little unexpected something to surprise him. The day before his birthday, we snuck into Smith Drug (where he works) and bought 25 balloons.  Then we came home and blew them all up and hid them in our land lord's house.  After a long day of work and studying and playing with Sadie, Logan luckily fell asleep pretty early.  I was able to sneak the balloons into the bathroom without him knowing, and then I left him a little note on the mirror.  Totally cheesy, but it says "Congratulations you had enough common 'cents' to survive to your 25th birthday!  Happy birthday!  Love, Your Wife" and stuck 25 pennies to the mirror for him to find.  The next morning he was quite surprised to find not only the decorated mirror, but the shower full of balloons as well.  He had to work most of his birthday, but that week was spring break, so we made sure to get out and play together as much as possible. 

In other news....

Here are some darling pictures of the cutest baby ever.

 When our tub is not being filled with 25 balloons, it is usually being used to bathe this little beauty (and okay, fine, shower her not as darling parents).  She loves her baths, and she especially loves her little rubber duckie that Grandpa Mark and Grandma Angie (my birthdad and his wife) gave her.

 My friend Shannon made this darling little hair clip for Sadie Lady.  I love the little feathers on it!  Her daddy's nickname is "Bird," so these little feathers make her look like my "Little Bird."

 We are starting her on solids.  She hated them at the beginning mostly, and would fight me on them every time I would try and feed her.  This was what she looked like at the end of every feeding.  Lucky for her, after every meal she would get a bath (see above); lucky for me, she is getting more used to the idea of eating solids, and more of it is getting into her mouth.

And last but not least, we are busy brainwashing this little girl into thinking that tennis is the coolest sport ever.  We're hoping she takes after he daddy and has an amazing ability and love for the sport hidden in her little body.  College scholarships, anyone?  (We are fans of free education!!)

To My Sweet 7 Month Old Baby Girl

Munchkin,

This month you have been busy!!

For a few days you were super cranky, cried at the littlest things, and had the snottiest nose ever, and then last week you had two teeth pop through.  First the bottom left, then the bottom right.  You are always feeling them with your tongue, lips, fingers, and gums.  You love to say the sound "Bah!" because I think you can feel your teeth when you do.  You have been extra drooley since the teeth came through, but now you are as happy as can be again.  It's exciting, strange, and a little sad to see little teeth in your mouth when you smile at me.  It's so fun to see you growing up, but everything is going by so quickly that I find myself clinging on to everything I can, trying to hold onto my little baby, because before I know it, you will be a toddler.

You figured out crawling this month, and my goodness you keep me running after you.  You have a mischievous streak that is coming through now that you can move yourself around.  When I take showers in the morning, if you are awake I will pull you out of your crib and surround you with toys to play with while I'm gone.  Last week while I was in the shower I could hear you babbling to yourself, but then you got really quiet.  I was almost done with my shower when I heard you again, but you sounded a lot closer.  You had crawled out of your room, down the hall, and then sat in the doorway of the bathroom.  You babbled into the room as if to ask "Hey, Mom!  Are you in this room?"  I peeked out of the shower and said hi to you, and you just crawled across the room to the tub like it was no big deal.  That day you really did just wake up and decide "I'm sick of just sitting here, I will crawl today."

Now that you are crawling, nothing is safe.  You are moving faster and faster every time you try to crawl, and you want to explore and put everything in your mouth.  You love to crawl around my feet as I am cooking dinner in the kitchen, and you remind me of a little puppy. You also are starting to pull yourself up onto things, which means I'm sure you'll be bonking your head a lot more this month (you gotta learn somehow, I suppose, but I wish I could protect you from everything).

You are learning that things exist even if you can't see them.  You love playing peek a boo with me, it always makes you laugh.  You also love to drop things off of the edge of the couch or bed and then lean over to try and find it again, when you do see it, you get so excited and kick your legs and do this "excited face" where you scrunch up your nose, pucker your lips out, and breath really fast (it's adorable).  You don't understand that you could fall off and hurt yourself, though, so we have to watch you closely.

We are finally diligently starting you on solids now.  You hated them at first, but after a week of "practice" you are now opening your mouth to take a few bites before you start clenching your little gums together.  You really liked peas, you LOVED bananas, you hated the chicken puree we gave you last night (but honestly, it seems funky to me anyway), carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes are okay in your opinion, maybe you will like them more as you eat them more.  You would much rather have smaller chunks of food we are eating, so I will often give you tiny pieces of bread, or squish up some veggies we are having for dinner that night, and you love that.

You are such a happy baby, and I love being your mommy.  I am so blessed to be able to hang out with you all day every day.  Daddy just finished school this week, so he will have a lot more time this summer to play with you, and he is so excited!  This summer will be our funnest summer yet!

Until next month,
Love,
Mommy

To My Sweet 6 Month Old Baby Girl

Smiley Sadie,

This month you are go-go-go.

One morning you woke up and you decided "I think I'll sit up today," and then you were just sitting.  You are pretty darn steady too, you've hardly ever fallen over, and even when you do you have never cried.  Your favorite thing to do is to sit in front of a pile of toys and pick each one up, cover it with slobbers, and then put it down.  You look like such a big girl sitting up, I had a few moments where I panicked that you are growing up too fast.  I have to keep reminding myself that you are getting more and more fun the older you get, and that it is okay, great even, that you are learning new "big girl" things.

You love to be on your hands and knees now.  You do something we call "rocky-rocky" where you rock back and forth from your head to your bum.  I laugh at this because I spent a lot of time at college studying the fundamentals of movement, and how babies all start moving, and you are taking the exact steps in movement I learned, and you are fantastic at them.  It is so cute because I think you can even understand me, because you will be on your hands and knees just looking at me and I'll say "Hey Sweetie, could you show me your rocky-rocky?" and you just take off, rocking away, only to stop and look up at me and smile as if to say "Hey Mom, look, I'm doing it!"  You also love to get your feet up underneath you and do something that looks a lot like the yoga pose "downward dog."  You can get up and down from that, but you can't figure out how to move your arms too.  I can tell that you are so incredibly close to crawling.  I'm waiting for that morning that you just wake up and decide to do it, and then there will be no stopping you, you will be crawling everywhere.

You are a determined little girl.  If you want something, you will figure out a way to get it.  If it is a toy just out of reach, you will scooch, roll, and reach your way over there to get it, and you are so proud of yourself when you accomplish your goal.  Hang on to that quality, sweet girl.  Set good goals, and don't be afraid to work for them.

You have become extra wiggly this month.  You usually think it's pretty annoying to be held in my lap anymore, but you love to be sitting next to me.  If I try to hold you, you will just squirm and twist around until I put you down.  However, you hate being by yourself.  If you can see me in the same room as you, you are fine, but if you see me walk away from you, you panic and start to fuss.

Braxton is your favorite cousin right now.  He can make you laugh better than anyone in the family, including your daddy or me.  You think he is absolutely hilarious, and he loves that you give him so much attention.  You usually see him a few times a week, and I love watching him play with you.

We have been working on baby signs with you for a few months, and this morning you may or may not have showed me your first sign back.  You were laying on my bed and I looked at you and you reached out your hand and squeezed it shut like the sign for "milk."  When I asked if you wanted milk, doing the sign back, you got very excited.  I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but I like to think that maybe you are picking it up and beginning to understand.

A funny little trait you have picked up this month is you are always sticking your little tongue out, especially if you are concentrating on something, just like your daddy.  I think you are so dang cute like this, and can't get enough of watching you do it.  You also love to pat your hands on things...your knee, the floor, your toys, me, whatever is near you.  It's like you're saying "Hey, I like this thing right here."

You love your baths so much! You could lay and sit in the water for an hour and be happy to just splash around.  We should probably get you some bath toys, huh?  You love getting me wet with your splashes.  You will kick the water and splash me in the face and then laugh and laugh.

You are keeping me on my toes, little one.  I can't believe I ever survived without you in my life.  You are the best thing that has ever happened to our family, and I am so glad I get to be your mommy.  Thanks for choosing us for your family!
I love you,
Mommy

To My Sweet 5 Month Old Baby Girl

Sweet Girl,

This month was a month of lots of fun with you. Some of my favorite highlights of this month have been:

• Taking you on your first road trip to Flaming Gorge.  You loved Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Flinders so much.  You loved sitting on their laps and talking to them.  They are almost completely deaf, so I'm not sure if they heard you, but they loved singing you songs and talking to you and just enjoying your sweet company.
• Watching you became a professional roller.  I used to leave you on the bed to do quick things, like take a shower, or load the dishwasher, or switch over a load of laundry.  You used to only roll once, and then stop, but after I ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth and came back to find you right on the edge of the bed, we had to stop doing that.  
• You sat in your first high chair at "Dairy Keen" in Heber.  You are so tiny that we had to shove a sweatshirt behind you to keep you from slipping all over the place, but you thought you were pretty dang cool sitting up with all the adults.
• You love to hang upside down and look around the room. You will lean back in our laps until you are looking upside down and then laugh and laugh.
• You also are starting to recognize when Daddy is coming in from school.  You hear the front door open and close and then start looking around, kicking your legs with excitement, for Daddy.  You love him so much, and I love watching you two together.
• You LOVE blowing spit bubbles.  You are constantly a drooly, wet mess because of your constant bubble blowing.  
• You have also discovered your voice this month.  While you are sitting in your bouncer in the kitchen while I cook dinner, you will chatter away at me the entire time.  I can't stop laughing at you, and you think it's pretty great to be getting attention, so you keep talking my ear off.
• You love to be naked, so every morning I will take off your jammies and change your diaper, but then I will bring you into our room and let you lay on our bed and wiggle around for a few minutes before getting you dressed.  You are all smiles during your morning "nakey time" and I love giggling at you.

You are such a content baby, and I love being your mommy.  It takes a lot for you to cry, and you are usually all smiles and giggles while you are awake.  I love you so much I can hardly stand it!

Love,

Mommy

4 Generations in Flaming Gorge

My mommy's parents live in a cabin up in Flaming Gorge.  I have always loved going up to visit them.  They are seriously the cutest old people ON THE PLANET.  I have a thing for old people, I think they are adorable, and my grandparents top that list with golden stars.

My mom found these picture frames that said "Four Generations" on them and after she bought a couple, she became antsy to visit her parents with Sadie and me to get the picture to put in them.

 Four Generations

My grandma is the youngest of 9 or 10 kids, and her mom was almost 50 (yes, you read that right) when she gave birth to her.  Her oldest siblings were easily old enough to be her parents, and I'm pretty sure she never even met her grandparents.  If I remember correctly, her grandpa crossed the plains, as in with the pioneers. My grandma's grandpa knew Joseph Smith.  That is just wild to me!  My grandma was telling us these stories and kept saying the only 4 generation picture she would ever be able to hope for was one in heaven, but she isn't so sure if there are cameras there to take the picture for her!

My grandparents seriously loved Sadie Lady to bits and pieces.  They just wanted to hold her and squish her and talk to her and watch her play.  I am in love with this picture of my sweet old grandpa holding my sweet little girl, just having a little chat.  I have been blessed with amazingly kind and loving grandparents, and I am so glad they were able to meet the most precious thing I have ever had in my life, my wonderful daughter.

We had a great weekend full of stories of my grandparents' past, crafting, cooking, and just visiting.  I love being in their home, and can't wait to get up there to visit them again as soon as Logan is out of school for the summer.

Adalyn Comes Down from Heaven

Well the triplet cousins are all here now!  

January 27th Brynn and Casey had their third baby, but their first girl, Adalyn. She has so much hair she looks like she is wearing a wig.

She squeaks like a little bicycle horn when she cries.

She is teeny tiny and very sweet.

She makes my baby look like a giant.

 Here is their first picture together, all three of them looking a little doofy.

Probably this picture will be on their wedding slide show.  I just love these girls.

I seriously get all giddy and silly inside when I think about these cousins all being so close in age.  I am not really close with any of my cousins, and was always jealous growing up when people at school would talk about how their cousins were their best friends.  These girls are so dang lucky!!  I am hoping they will all be the best of friends.  I'm hoping I have a house full of girl cousins in the future, all painting their nails, or giggling about boys at school, or having sleep overs, or getting ready for school dances together.  And honestly, how sweet of a deal would that be...we mommies would all know and trust our daughters' best friends' families, because hey, they are our family too.

I love my family so dang much!!  

Logan and I are so blessed!!  Sadie is so blessed!! Our other future babies are so blessed too!!

New Years 2012

This past new years eve was pretty chillaxed.  We spent the evening at Autumn and Doug's, eating food, and chatting it up with friends.  I made some pretty rockin' jalapeno poppers that I was pretty proud of.  We got Aaron to stop by our party with his date, Kim, who is a girl I used to dance with in high school.  We rang in the new year at midnight, but by 12:15, we were already packed up and headed home.  I don't know if we are just old farts now and are incapable of partying it up, or if we are just experiencing parental tiredness (in which case, I'm sure the tiredness will wear off just in time for the old fartness to set in...so are we going to be party poopers for life now?).

2011 was a good year, we found out we were having Sadie, I graduated from UVU, we traveled lots, we laughed a lot, we had Sadie, we found out what "tired" really feels like, but we found out what "love" and "joy" really feel like too.  I'm sure 2012 will treat us just as well, if not better.  Honestly, every year since Logan has come into my life has just gotten better and better.  Oh dear, I love my little family so much it hurts a little.

Oh, and also...this is what Sadie did basically our whole party:

 Even with 9 other kids running around screaming their guts out.

Even with all of us blowing our new years horns.

Even with everyone talking and laughing super loud.

She stayed asleep.

It's almost as if she has a parent that also falls asleep at various locations, 

and could sleep through nuclear warfare. 

(hint: I'm not talking about Logan)

To My Sweet 4 Month Old Baby Girl

Baby Girl,

Your personality is starting to shine more and more, and it makes it so much fun to be your mommy.  You have learned so much this month, and it is seriously the coolest thing ever to watch.

The day after Christmas, you rolled over for the first time.  I was sitting in the basement with Grandma Deana at her house, and you just rolled over from your tummy to your back, like it was no big deal.  I got so excited about it though, I think I scared you because your eyes got all big and you looked very worried.  You don't do it all the time, but you do try so hard to roll from your back to your front.  We will lay you on your back and show you our phone, then we drag the phone so it is above your head, and you'll arch your little back to look up at it.  You can get your legs to roll over, but you can't figure out how to get your elbow out of the way so you can end up on your tummy.  You'll figure it out soon though, I'm sure of it.

You like tummy time a lot more than you have in the past.  You can hold your head up so strong, and even reach out to grab a toy in front of you.  You love toys now, and can hold onto them and bring them to your mouth.  We think you might be in the early phases of teething because you like to chew on everything, but your most favorite thing to chew on are your own fingers.  This, sweet girl, drives me a little batty. You are constantly a slobbery, wet (and cold) mess.  You suck and chew on your fingers basically from the second you wake up, to the second you fall asleep.  You aren't picky about which fingers get in your mouth, in fact, sometimes you will stack your hands on top of each other and chew on all ten of them at once, gagging yourself the whole time.  We try to stop you, but you don't seem to listen.

This month we found out you have a bit of acid reflux, and you're on some medicine to help that.  You spit up a lot now, and I constantly smell like puke.  Not my favorite, but you're too cute to get upset at.  The medicine is helping a little, I think.  You spit up, but you don't fuss as much about your tummy hurting.  Hopefully you will stop spitting up so much, though, because you are a tiny little bug, and seem to be struggling a bit to gain weight.  You are about 55% for height, but only 5% for weight, and you're dropping lower every month.  What can I say though, with Logan for a daddy, you're bound to be tall and skinny.

You laugh and chatter all the time.  Daddy and I can't get enough of it either.  You also recognize us and prefer us over other people now.  Grandma Ilene will be holding you as you scream, but then I pick you up and you settle right down.  You love it when Daddy comes home from school or work, because that means it's play time!  He will "fly" you all around the apartment, sing songs to you, or get down on the floor with you to play with your toys.  He loves you more than life, and you have him wrapped so tightly around your baby (slobbery) fingers.

I love being your mommy.  I try to tell you I love you, kiss you, and snuggle you about a trillion times a day.  I feel like I'll blink and all of the sudden you'll be 12 and too cool to snuggle with your mommy, so I'm doing my best to soak it in.  I'm so glad I'm your mommy, and I'm so glad you chose to be my daughter.  I feel like I'm finally adjusting to my new normal of hanging out with a baby all day, rather than running around from school to work and back again like I have been for the past ten years or so.  Sometimes I miss my old life, but honestly, I would never trade it in a million years.  I get to hang out with you, my bestest buddy, and cutest friend all day long.  Plus, you seem really like me too, which makes me feel like a total rock star.

I love you so much my rib cage might just explode from trying to hold it all in.  I love you so much, sometimes I think I might have to scream it from a roof top.  I love you so much that sometimes I have to remind myself to not squeeze you too tight.  You are amazing, little girl.  I'm learning lots, and you are patient with me.

More love than you could ever imagine (until you have your own baby),
Mommy