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.

Thursday Calder came home from school and said "go get ready, let's take a walk!" We have a cute little park only two blocks from our apartment that he had taken Piper to a few times the week I went to work. It was so nice to get outside and spend some family time together.

A nice lady offered to take a picture of all of us - I really wish I had more pictures with me in it. Piper loved the swing (no surprise there - she loves her swing at home!) It was so fun to play outside with her - she loves being outside. The only part she didn't like was getting back in her stroller to leave! After the park we walked to the grocery store to get some things that I forgot when I went the day before. It was further than I thought (I had never walked there...) but I enjoyed the evening away from the TV with my hubby.

Louisiana!

I'm so behind and a little overwhelmed now at all the things I need to blog. Me and Piper went to visit Louisiana for two weeks. My mom was in town, Taylor was home from his mission, and Whitney came for her spring break. My grandma and Grandpa came down from Arkansas to hang out too! The flight was great (I just nursed Piper the whole time - hopefully the girl next to me didn't mind, I didn't really talk to her). When we got of the plane Piper was smiley smiley for a few minutes. It didn't last long.

The next day we got busy introducing Piper to everyone. (Click on it!)

Some highlights of the trip included...

Nana's bathtub

Being bossy on the trampoline (and no matter what do NOT stop bouncing)

Easter morning and her first visit from the Easter Bunny - he brought some clothes, puzzles, Winnie the Pooh DVD and bunny slippers. Piper HATED the peep we were so excited to giver her. She did enjoy watching General Conference from the Bumbo (for awhile)

Eating crawfish. I was SO excited to be in Louisiana for crawfish season! Unfortunately it turns out Piper isn't a big fan of crawfish and cried all night so no more for me :(

Meeting her great grandparents

Playing on the cute quilt that her great grandma made

Watching cartoons

Meeting friends

And sitting in her little red rocking great that her great PaPa passed down to her. We found a picture of me in the chair and are still looking for one of Nana in the chair!

(Do you think we take enough pictures of her?)