FIVE new posts on my new blog. Check it out...
http://www.huntingtonfam.com/blog/
(and update your bookmarks!)

New Posts

If you haven't updated your bookmarks/reader yet.. do it!

Several new posts on the new blog!

http://www.huntingtonfam.com/blog/

New Blog

I have FOUR new posts on my NEW blog!
http://www.huntingtonfam.com/blog/

(because that is way cooler than houseofhuntington.blogspot.com!)

Check it out!

(I'm still working on formatting and stuff... be patient!)

Little Mover

My life is about to change forever! She does not stay where I put her anymore!

Video

I finally got it together and uploaded some videos.

Before you get to see what you really came here for you get a quick little recap of how we’re doing here in Vegas.

• We go swimming All.The.Time. Almost everyday. So many people have been so nice to let us come over and play in their pool. And we have a fun little pool/waterpark two minutes from the house.
• Piper is loving all the attention she gets here. So many hugs and kisses!
• Yesterday we went to visit my old roommate Crystal and her cute boy Matthew. It was so fun to catch up and I’m so glad to have them close.
• I’ve gotten to know a few young families in the ward. It’s hard since I’m only in this ward for the summer but it’s nice to have people to get together with. There are a few other families with babies.
• I’m finally starting to know my way around. Lucky for me Vegas is a grid so I only need to know a few main streets.
• Really, we’re good. Just hanging out and playing.

Here’s babe’s first taste of real food. Rice cereal, and she loved it as long as she was in control of the spoon. In fact, she’s still not a huge fan of being spoon fed. She’d much rather do it herself. I got some little crackers that I can just put on her highchair and she likes eating that way much better. I still only feed her about once a day because she only eats a few bites no matter what it is. *(And I have to say – you don’t have to watch the whole thing, nothing exciting happens. Calder isn’t very good at knowing when to stop.)

See the date on this? May 21. Only a few days after we moved, so go ahead and ignore the disaster in the background and enjoy the cuteness.

Baby giggles – no explanation needed!

Stay tuned – there’s one more from yesterday but it didn’t format correctly so it’s taking a really long time to upload. I’ll be up soon though!

5 Months!

Miss Piper has gotten so big and her little personality is starting to really shine through.

• She is so DETERMINED. She’ll see something across the room and want it so bad. She’ll try so hard.., but can’t get anywhere yet. This little lady is ready to move!
• She loves to EXPLORE. When I give her a bath she’s always trying to dive over the sides of the baby tub to get to the shampoo/soap/whatever she can see. She wants to grab and figure it out.
• She is HAPPY. (well, sometimes, and way happier than she’s ever been before). She gets so excited and squeals with delight. She has a cute little giggle and is so fun to play with.
• She is FOCUSED. She’ll sit with the same thing for a long time trying to figure it out. Her favorites are water bottles and spoons.
• She is LOVED. She is getting used to having so many family members around to give her attention. It’s going to be rough on this little one when we move to our own place and she' doesn’t have so many people to play with all the time.
• She SLEEPS! For the first time ever Piper is sleeping good at night and taking long naps. She can even put herself to sleep in less than 10 minutes. We love this!
• She is HUNGRY. We started giving her some baby food but she’s not really into it. Every time we sit down to dinner or go to a restaurant she gets so mad as soon as the food comes out. She just wants big people food!
• She GIGGLES. It’s adorable.
• She had ALLERGIES. Last week we broke out in hives. It was so sad – I’m not sure what caused it but think it might be citrus. She’s all better now.
• She is STRONG. She can sit up all by herself now. She can really put up a fight to get something she wants (phones, food, hair). She weights 18 pounds!

We love our tiny Pip-face!

It’s Summertime!

Piper’s New Bed!

Miss Piper had a rough time adjusting to her new home. During the move we let her sleep with us a few times and she was loving it. She’s always slept in a pack and play but I had planned to get her a real bed when we moved. She loves it! Now she’s sleeping all night long, can go to sleep on her own (only cries for 5 minutes!) and wakes up so happy! We all love Piper’s new bed!

Moving Days

For anyone who wasn't aware - we're now in Las Vegas, Nevada! The move was WAY easier than we had expected. I started packing up boxes a long time ago and really never felt overwhelmed about it at all. It definitely helped that Calder's parents came for graduation and were a huge help packing and playing with Piper. We used Movex so we basically loaded up the truck in Minneapolis and unloaded it in Vegas.  The driver even stayed with the truck while we loaded up so he could help arrange things. We also had some great friends to help us load up (and they each left with a load of food and stuff we weren't going to take with us). I wish I would have taken some pictures of our sad little empty apartment but I forgot :(

I flew with Piper and Mary (because if we drove we'd probably still be on the road - little miss doesn't like her carseat very much). I'd never done first class before but HOLY COW I don't know if I'll ever be able to fly like a regular person again. The food was delicious and it was so comfy I felt like I was sitting in my living room. Even with a wiggly baby I didn't feel squished even once.

Calder and Ric drove our car. They left Sunday morning and got here Monday night way earlier than we had expected. They listened to audiobooks the whole way!

The truck and all our stuff got here Thursday. It didn't take long at all to unload all the stuff to the garage and send the driver on his way. We also had some great family and friends to help us unload.

We're living with Calder's parents for the summer until I find somewhere else. This worked out well especially since I didn't have any time to come down and look for a place to live. And since Calder doesn't start working until August.

Piper's had a blast meeting all of her extended family. Here she is with her Aunt Becca and Uncle Davis, Great Grandpa Jack, Lexi and Aunt Becca again.

And on another completely unrelated topic - how ADORABLE is this dress!?!? It had matching shoes and headbands (that don't quite fit yet but luckily we had something else that looked perfect!) She sure did get a lot of attention at Sam's Club yesterday!

We Love Our Moms!

Happy Mother’s Day! It’s so fun to think as we’re playing with Piper that not very long ago WE were the tiny babies and YOU were the excited new moms - someday Piper will be a mom and I’ll be the grandma! 

5 Things About My Mom (Ivy)

1. She’s a great friend and loves to talk on the phone. When I was at BYU I’d call her everyday when I was walking back to my apartment and she’d always listen to me talk about my day.
2. She loves to have people over for parties. Our home was always open to anyone who wanted to be there. We’d always have big Halloween Parties and Superbowl Parties. Somehow we always ended up with tons of people at our house. She taught seminary when I was in High School and she really seemed to enjoy having so many people feel comfortable being in our house every morning (even if she wished it wasn’t so early)
3. She’s great about keeping in touch with old friends – and is a facebook and blog stalker! She’s always excited to reconnect with people from the past. She always knows what old friends are up to.
4. After living in the same city for her whole life (minus a few years here and there) she up and moved to Saudi Arabia. Ok, maybe she was brought there against her will, but either way – left all her friends and family and the comforts of home to start over – and she’s loved it!
5. She was so helpful when Piper was born. It was no nice to have someone here to show me how to be a mom. She showed me how to give the baby a bath and helped with the middle of the night stuff.

5 Things About My Mom (Calder)

1. She’s wise.  Plain and simple, my mom is smart and can always help me figure things out.  Well, not regarding tech – but everything else.
2. She knows the gospel.  This kind of falls under the prior but is so important that it supersedes the general.  Anytime I have a gospel question or idea, my mom has thought about it before and can discuss and help me find some new insight.
3. She is kind.  I am not as aware about the importance of being kind as much as my mom is and she is always able to help me figure it out and help me be better.
4. She is helpful.  I can’t wait for her to get her on Monday and help Ivy and I prepare to move.  She has also helped make the move easy for once we get back to Las Vegas. I can’t even begin to number the other things she helps with all of the time.
5. She can do everything – even if she forgets soon thereafter.  I am always amazed by how much my mom has on her plate.  Sometimes she seemed busier with her varied activities than I was in law school – and I was at the law school almost 12 hours a day.

Thanks for everything Moms! We love you so much!

4 Months Old!

Head: 16” (38%)

Weight: 16# 2oz (92%)

Height: 24 ¾” (66%)

She’s always making silly faces – her favorite is sucking in her bottom lip. She can copy faces too – we’ll both stick our tongues out and she gets so happy!

She loves toys now and we don’t leave home without making sure we have some with us. She’s learned to bring everything she can reach to her mouth. One of her favorite things is the washcloth when I’m bathing her – which is fine unless I just used it to clean her bottom – GROSS!

She’s so cute to play with (when she’s in the mood for playing). She seems to sense that something is a little ‘off’ with us packing up all our stuff and she isn’t thrilled about it.  She still likes to be swung around and thrown in the air. I got her a little jumping thing to put in the doorway – she hasn’t really gotten it yet but I think she’ll love it when she figures it out.

And she’s learning to sit up! She can stay up for a few seconds before she either faceplants or tips over. She has fun until she plops over on her nose – she HATES when that happens!

At four months:

• Goes to sleep around 8:30. Sometimes she’ll still wake up a time or two before we go to bed (she hates to be left out) but will usually go back to sleep relatively easily. She' still wakes up to eat at night, then will sleep until 8ish.
• Still struggles with naps but they are getting more regular. Every two hours she needs one but often only sleeps for 20 minutes. And she only takes naps in her swing – something we’re going to work on once we get settled in Vegas.
• She likes to be outside.
• She is starting to giggle, just a little.
• Her hair is still CRAZY. It’s so fine that it falls back when she sleeps so it’s all sticking straight up when I get her in the morning.
• She gets frustrated on her jungle playmat because she can’t get the toys down.
• She babbles for minutes at a time. She has lots of stories to tell!
• Reaches for our food when we try to eat. I don’t know how she knows what’s going on but she sure seems to. I think we’re going to start with some rice cereal once we get to Vegas.
• She’s so social. Even when she’s in a terrible mood for us she gets so happy and smiley with strangers. It makes it hard for us to talk about her being cranky! Everyone says “your mommy says you cry a lot but it sure doesn’t look like it!”
• She loves to look in the mirror and especially at other babies.
• I call her ‘Silly Bee’ and Calder calls her ‘Bucket’ We don’t know why.
• Sometimes she’ll cry until I pass her to Calder, then she’ll look back and smile. A few minutes later she’ll do the same thing to get back to me.
• After her doctor appointment we started her on medicine for reflux. It seems to be helping, she’s been much happier.
• She kicks herself around in her bed so her head and shoulders are up against the edge. One day she had turned around so her head was on the other side than it was when we put her down.

Packing

After spending a few hours hardcore packing tonight, our bed looks like this. 

We're sleeping on the couch.

We found tons so stuff to get rid of (mostly clothes, shoes, purses, coats, etc.) It's so refreshing. Some friends are having a garage sale Saturday with a bunch of families so hopefully we can get a little back for our all junk.

I still haven't taken more 4 month pictures of Piper (I worked Monday and Wednesday this week) but here are some I took yesterday.

She wanted that burger!

And just relaxing after getting shots. She was so pukey I decided naked was fine (and I just like to see her yummy fat rolls).

Can you believe my baby is four months old today? I tried taking her pictures but she was in this kind of mood.

So I got a few while she was sleeping. There's nothing cuter than a sleepy baby anyway. And she has the sweetest lips!

And an intense double chin.

More 4 month pictures (hopefully) and stats coming soon!
Her hair is looking really scraggly again - any suggestions?

Calder is officially DONE with law school. He picked classes with no final exams this semester and he turned in his last assignment yesterday. We both took the day to hang out and relax - NO housework, NO laundry. 

Busy Friday

This morning we went to school with Calder. He had his mock trial for his evidence class. He was a witness and wanted to use Piper as a sympathy plea to the jury. She was a great little actress (until she realized that class went past her naptime and wasn't thrilled about that) Luckily the law school has a GREAT little 'infant care' room with a rocking chair that we could hang out in.

After class was over Piper crashed on the way home. Since she needed a nap so bad (and I swear that's the only reason) I turned around and drove to Sonic in St. Paul for lunch and a diet strawberry limeade. I had one almost every day in Louisiana and was missing it. I might be in trouble when we move to Vegas and I have it close by again - happy hour every day!

We got home and snuggled for awhile before we went to a playdate with Piper's cute friend Elodie. They did tummy time together and Piper played with all Elodie's toys. We walked to the park and they played on the swings and slid down the slides (on mommy's lap of course).

(two chubby girls!)

We came home, Piper took a little nap and then daddy came home! Later we went back to their house for yummy Apple Spice Cake with homemade caramel sauce - delicious! We stayed late and watched the Transformers movie. Piper was so sleepy but was having a hard time dealing with not being at home. Brett had the magic touch and got her to sleep by bouncing her on the exercise ball, but in true Piper fashion she was wide awake after 20 minutes. It was so fun to hang out with other people - we get so caught up in school and baby that we forget to have lives. We're really going to miss them when we leave - it would be so fun to watch these girls grow up together!

Last Sunday I finally gave in and cut off Piper's tail. Since she was born she's had long hair in the back but once it got long enough to braid I decided it was time. I also cut it above her left ear - for some reason her hair was way longer on that side.

Before

After

I cut it a little too short (and crooked) but it grows fast and looks better already! (And seriously, check out that chubby shoulder and tell me you don't want to kiss it)

It was a lot of hair for such a little baby...

After her first haircut she got her first shower

She wasn't sure what she thought of the shower at first, then decided she definitely did not like it. I think maybe we had the water too cold.