One Month Old

Our little Kelly is already a month old. She is growing fast and weighed in around 7 1/2 lbs today. Good news because now she can fit into regular 0-3 months clothes and we have some fun new outfits to wear. The joys of having a little girl. She still reminds me so much of Jake, but she does have some unique traits too. She has more of a round face and different eyes. Kelly loves to be held on the shoulder and her new favorite thing to do is tilt her head back and just stare at whoever is holding her. It is fun to watch her be more aware of voices and faces. Here are a few new pics.

She will be embarrassed when she reads this later in her life...but Kelly has quite a bit of gas to share with us all, and it doesn't smell like baby gas...it is pretty stinky. The poor thing cries in pain quite a bit and we are trying some different things to help her out. Maybe she has inherited that from her dad :-)

Jake and Stevie have overall been great with Kelly. The only real issue has been watching Stevie to make sure she isn't wrapping her in a blanket, trying to feed her candy, or stuffing the pacifier into her mouth. At least she is acting with love and not jealousy. Jake has struggled a little bit at going to school and whining and crying for attention. Last week seemed to be better and I think he is working on the adjustment in his head. It has been hard to figure out how to divide up my time. I know that it's just a process of learning a new normal and I'll figure things out.

I've learned again...
** How to function with less sleep.
** How to change a diaper with lightening speed.
** How to get the pacifier to stay in the mouth.
** How to wrap a blanket like a cocoon.
** How funny it is to watch babies make "crazy eyes."
** How cute newborn noises sound.
** How wonderful babies smell after a bath and baby lotion.
And on and on.

Garage Sale Find of the Year

Most of you know that I'm an avid "garage saler" and it is an addiction. It takes a lot to keep me from going every Saturday morning. Steve fully supports the habit and loves to see what I find each week. I know it can get out of hand, but I think I'm getting better at not bringing home junk. Anyway...each summer I have a "find of the year." Over the past several years the award has gone to my breast pump for $2 (yes, I bought new attachments), Steve's $30 kayak, and a $10 Trek bike for Jake. I think it is safe to say that I found my "find of the year" last Saturday. Even though it wasn't very cheap, it was still a great deal. Meet my new friend Cruiser. Jake also has a new friend named Runner (a birthday gift from Mom & Dad). We had a great time riding them together on Sunday afternoon.

Saturdays and Football

My husband enjoys watching sports, but he doesn't get really into it except for in the fall when college football starts. Our family in Tennessee keeps us supplied with all of the orange & white clothing we need to cheer and support for the Tennessee Volunteers. Unfortunately this year isn't going so great for the Vols. But at least the outfits for the kids look good :-)


I have been secretly smiling this year because although I cheer for Tennessee, I have cheered for BYU my whole life and graduated from there. BYU is having a great season and my brother-in-law is on the team this year. I don't get too into sports either, but now that Shane is on the team and they are winning...I have renewed interest. And I can harass my husband a little with a smile. Love you babe!

I Spoke Too Soon

As of last night, Stevie's earrings have both fallen out. Not sure if I should blame it on the lady at Claire's or blame it on Stevie's age. Both of the backs have fallen off while changing clothes and then the earrings fell out right after that. The first one I tried to get back in and it was very traumatic because I would have had to push through the last layer of skin. Ouch.

I will see if she decides she wants to get them pierced again. At least potty training is closer and the pacifiers are gone :-)

Stevie's "Big Girl" Day

Stevie has been asking for several months now to get earrings. She ramped it up over the last few weeks and asks several times a day (Nannie can attest to this). So we were talking the other night and I told her that only big girls get their ears pierced...girls that don't have pacifiers and pull-ups. She told me that she would throw her "paci's" in the trash and use "Potty Power." True to her determination, she kept bringing it up so we decided to use earrings to bribe her. So this weekend we took her to get her ears pierced. She did cry some, but she was very brave and absolutely loves her new earrings. I keep catching her looking in the mirror. And she threw all of her paci's away that day and wore underwear most of the day.


Some of you may not agree with my parenting techniques here...pacifier at her age, and piercing her ears at such a young age. But bribery does work sometimes and I'm happy with the outcome so far.

The video is a little hard for me to watch with the big tears, but if you want to watch it...here it is.

Stevie getting Ears pierced from Steve Hough on Vimeo.

Canvas on Demand

I just discovered a great company called Canvas on Demand www.canvasondemand.com and wanted to share if you haven't heard of them. A friend of mine recommended this company to me, thanks Kristal! I ordered some enlargements of the kids photos and they arrived today. I am so impressed by the quality and during the whole process the customer service was amazing. They called me a couple times to get my opinion on printing options. They also upgraded the size of the pictures for free because they thought they would look better at that size. Love them!

The Cow Ballet

Due to glowing reports from last year, we ventured to The Cow Ballet in Peoa last Saturday. We knew several families who went last year and really enjoyed it, but I didn't know what to expect. Would they really have dancing cows? My experience with cows tells me no. Judy, my mother-in-law, was here and I'm sure she was pretty skeptical about going too.

Before we made it to the arena where the Ballet was held, we enjoyed the great petting zoo and Stevie tried out the 4-wheeler train (bad idea because it was more like an off-road train). After the ballet we had some BBQ and let the kids go crazy at the playground. So there were cows in tutus, but the dancing came from some "pretend" cows who may have been a little over served with alcohol.

I'm pretty sure I enjoyed the whole event more than Steve and Judy. With Kelly strapped on my chest, I wasn't able to do most of chasing and helping. But I think we will all go back to see the Ballet next year.

Help from the "Nannie"

I know that my mother-in-law doesn't necessarily love her name of "Nannie." She really wanted to be called Nanna from the grandkids, but the first two grandkids came up with Nannie instead. Along with Grandma and Amy, Nannie is one of Jake and Stevie's favorite words. Usually on their pretend phone conversations, they are talking to one of those three people.

Anyway...help arrived last Tuesday and Nannie arrived from Tennessee. We had a week full of help and good quality time with her. Lots of sandcastles and lego towers were built and put back up again. Kelly loved being held and even felt comfortable enough to pee on Nannie twice. Sorry! Here are some pics that we took while she was here.

I was able to ease back into work a little, take care of Kelly, and even take a few shopping trips with Nannie's help. The kids have been asking for her most of today. But the good news is that we will see her again soon, just a few months away until we go for Thanksgiving.

Thanks Judy!