Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

Amelia and I (yep- I'm back to a coppery red head)

Amelia sitting by the christmas tree, notice how she's pulled off her bow and headband, she's pretty quick at that.

This is our christmas card photo this year- we thought it would be funny if we all wore winter hats and short sleeve shirts because of the weather down here. Of course Amelia is slightly blurry, trying to get a 8 month old to sit still for a minute is INSANE...

Candy cane from Santa, I gave it to her to play with and next thing I know she broke it in half and was sucking on it. She was not a happy camper when I took it away.

Amelia and Santa, I was so happy she didn't cry or yank on his beard. She just stared at him. By the way this Santa totally looked legit.

Fall Fun

I had the chance to take Amelia to visit the school my mom worked at, Farnsworth was like a second family to us growing up. This is a photo of Amelia and I sitting on one of the two benches they have at the enterance of the school. The bench says "In Memory of Julie Felgar".

Amelia playing with her aunt Katie, she loves her aunt Katie.

Amelia and Nathan playing in the snow in Arizona.

Her new favorite thing- the stairs.

Amelia and Nana on Thanksgiving.

I know I've kinda turned into one of those bloggers who only updates every month, so I apologize. In my defense Amelia has become super mobile. Like mega lightening fast. She turned 8 months on monday and yesterday she crawled up 5 stairs! Today I wanted to show Nathan how great she was at climbing up the stairs and she crawled up all 16 of them. This morning I made the mistake of turning my back for a moment and where do I find her? she climbed up 3 stairs! She also left teeth marks on the coffee table when I went to get a drink. I can't leave her alone for a second.

Thanksgiving went really well, we drove to Nathan's parents home in Arizona and spent time with family. Amelia loved thanksgiving food, especially pumpkin pie, she would have ate the whole slice if I had let her. She also experienced snow for the first time and didn't know really how to react to it. She has also become quite the funny gal with food. If she can see someone eating something she really wants to eat it too. She's also loves to stand up and hold on to the furniture and walk, she is growing up so fast. (And she has two bottom teeth)

November was kinda a rough month, emotionally (for me), but thanks to the love and support from our family and friends, we made it through. The art museum is currently running a fabulous modern art exhibit which thrills me beyond belief. I was also asked to be a part of a group of local artists who design sidewalk art for the New Year's Eve celebration, which is nerve wracking and exciting.

Nathan is enjoying playing volleyball and works super hard. I asked him what I should add on his behalf and of course he replied nothing. So needless to say he is doing well and loves being a dad.

These are the days of our lives, or the past month of it!

Here are some photos of Amelia because I know thats why you are really here to see our blog!

Amelia and daddy before trick or treating

Amelia rocking out with pots and bowls- she loves bowls on her head

This is the face of the innocent child who wreaks havoc at our house

Did I mention I love Halloween?

Amelia the moo cow who cannot moo but blows raspberries instead

Sorry to those individuals who actually read this blog- my absence from the blogging world was due to the fact that my child can CRAWL! Amelia has been crawling for the last month and these past few weeks she has become very fast. She's into everything, crawling everywhere, and getting into places she cannot get out of. She has also been pulling herself up to a standing position, making her quite the climber (she can even climb out of her bumbo!). She also likes to turn pages of books, play with anything electronic, and wave to people. 7 months is such a fun age!

Nathan is preparing to go on a business trip this weekend, and Amelia and I will not be coming along. We'll be visiting my family and friends instead. I'm not looking forward to being apart from Nathan, but it will be really fun to show everyone Amelia at such a fun stage of her life. Nathan is also playing volleyball on our wards co-ed team. He is really excited to be playing again. Nathan is also convinced that Amelia will be walking by Christmas- if he is right- we're in trouble!!!

I have been quite busy with the Educational Committee at the art museum. I put together a special event next Wednesday night for our docents and its been quite the experience. I'm also teaching an art class to 3rd graders next week on Marc Chagall, which should be fun. Amelia and Nathan also had colds last week, which made for an extremely tired me. I'm so grateful that they are doing much better now and we were still able to celebrate Halloween, my favorite holiday.

I love the fall but I've been really dreading November. I'm really missing my mom right now. As much as I love Amelia, she reminds me of what I lost. Thank goodness I have such a wonderful support system all around me, I am so blessed.

6 months already!

Amelia is now 6 months old and as Nathan says "she's starting to be at the fun age". She talks and gabs constantly, I think she gets that from me! She also is on the move! She rolls places and then starts scooting backwards, when she figures out how to go forward we are really in for it. The baby proofing has begun.

Amelia at the ward swim party- she loves playing in the water

Wearing daddy's hat

Playing in a box

Chillin in her new highchair

Her new favorite thing is magazines- she can rip them apart in seconds!

Last weekend we went to Zion's National Park. It was the first time for Amelia and I and Nathan was really excited to take us. Entrance to the park was free and the shuttles were packed. We had a nice picnic lunch up there and went on a small hike after. Amelia LOVED it.

Amelia all tuckered out on the shuttle back to our car

Quick diaper change break

Riding on Nathan's back- Amelia loves shoulder rides so she was in heaven!

Loving the hike and being outdoors- how can you resist that smile?

Ode to Summer

Amelia found her toes.

Fun at the California Science Center.

Ate oatmeal for the first time- Amelia hated it.

Nathan experienced a hurricane.

Went to a pirate dinner and show.

We took Amelia to the beach- she hated the sand.

Amelia made obscene hand gestures.

Amelia went swimming for the first time and liked it a lot more than the beach.

Amelia and Daddy found more things they have in common.

Amelia rockin' her red hair mohawk.

4 months old

By Snow Canyon making a pit stop for Amelia on our way home from Pine Valley

Nathan and Amelia at the chapel in Pine Valley

Amelia's impressive shoe collection- she's almost grown out of most of them...sad sad sad...

Amelia being cute

On her way to her 4 month doctor's appointment, as you can see she's not too excited.

Daddy and Amelia reading stories

Amelia being cute again...

Pulling mommy's hair and drooling at the same time, she's a girl of many talents

Amelia wearing the dress that Joanna gave her- she LOVED it!

Amelia busting out her amazing Twister skills

Amelia is now 4 months old and Nathan thinks she's almost to the fun age. Not sure what the fun age is, I think she's pretty fun now. She puts EVERYTHING into her mouth and drools non stop. She also loves to practice standing, dancing, and sitting up. At her 4 month doctor appointment we found out her head is in the 99th percentile!! She also weighs 14. 7 lbs. I can't believe how much she's grown. She has been sleeping through the night like clockwork for the last 2 months. She's also been going to sleep by herself for the last 2 months as well. We are very lucky. I am very grateful that she is such an easy mellow baby. It almost makes me want more...almost.

Nathan passed is one year evaluation at work and is enjoying becoming the quality engineer for the company. He has a business trip to LA in a few weeks and Amelia and I are going to tag along. I can't wait to take Amelia and Nathan to the beach! We are really excited our pediatrician gave us the green light to take Amelia to go to LA, we were worried due to the whooping cough epidemic California is dealing with.

We took a trip up to Pine Valley because we've never been up there before. We were able to take a tour of the oldest chapel still in use which was pretty neat. The other neat thing was that it was 20 degrees cooler up there. Definitely a plus. We stopped and had some Hawaiian Ice on the drive back, which is easily 50 times better than just a regular snow cone. If you haven't had some you are seriously missing out on a delightful treat.

Best Friends and Aquariums

While up north for our big 4th of July shindig we had the chance to meet up with my best friend and her family in Sandy. They drove down from Logan just to meet up with us. It was so good to see them. I really miss her! We went to the aquarium and then had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack (in honor of the fish). I just know Tia and Amelia will be great friends (once Amelia is a little older!). Can't wait until our next get together!!!!!

Nathan showing Amelia the stingrays. The stingray even popped out of the water and almost touched her feet (which means I almost punched the stingray for touching my kid!).

Joanna and I- oh how I miss this girl!

Joanna showing Tia the penguins, she loved them!

Amelia was fascinated with the fish tanks especially the bright colored fish and the bubbles

more fish tank fun!