Happy Birthday to Him

Juan is 26 today!

We've officially known each other 10 years now.

We met 1 day before his 16th birthday. I left youth conference a few days early. I remember begging my friend Miriam to get a picture of him so I could do the 15-year-old girl thing and carry around a picture of a guy I hardly knew. I had a major crush on him.

We had our first kiss exactly 8 years ago, on his 18th birthday.

This is a special time of year for us.

I'm loving this time we have in Denver to be in our own little cocoon of our 3-person family. It is so much fun to be here, knowing virtually nobody, and exploring together. Juan works so hard for our family. I love him.

And of course Miss Amelia always deserves a spot in the post. Here is what she is up to lately, I call it the 3/4 rollover. She is so close!

That big head of hers. She can't quite bring it over.

This Stay-at-Home-Mom Thing

I have to admit, the first day I did this job, I had a pit in my stomach the whole time. What do we do all day? Does she really fuss every time I'm not sitting right next to her? I didn't know about it. My dream job, was it really just a dream and not as good as I imagined?

3 weeks in now.

I put her down to sleep and if I hear her in there talking, I don't want to miss out on it so I have to go get her and let her fall asleep next to me and Juan in bed. Bad habit, I know!

Today we danced and danced to Justin Bieber. She smiled so big as I moved her legs or her arms all over the place. Or I'd pick her up and twirl around the apartment.

She loves sitting on my lap facing outwards, and will twist her head around to look up at me.

This is the rest of my life, can you believe it? I still tear up every day about how much I'm grateful for her. The other night she turned to me as Juan was getting her ready for bed and she spit out her bink and just started talking and talking to me. I cried. She is our girl. We made her. The Lord blessed us with her. We have a responsibility to raise her in the gospel and to be a responsible and considerate human being.

Heck yeah I love this gig.

The Lecture

Here she is mid-lecture last night. She gives me a straight arm with a tight fist lately. I am taking it as a gesture of love from her. It's adorable.

And here is video of what she had to say. This is actually very mellow of her.

After such a tiring speech, she slept a full 10 hours. She woke up looking like she got the sleep of her life.

She's 3 Months

This girl has some attitude and I am loving it! Each night she talks and talks and talks, and it is with attitude. She is telling me what I can do better for the next day I guess.

Thank you for all the tummy time tips by the way, Amelia has suddenly become Wonder Woman. I tried a few times with her tummy on the boppy and she held her head up! And now she just has to always see what is going on, she keeps her head up when we try to rest it on our shoulders. Her curiosity is motivating her!

We were at the mall and out and about all day Saturday and she was not having it. I tried to get her to smile and she would just give me this look like, who do you think you're dealing with here? She wouldn't even eat all day until she finally gave in out of starvation. We are working on flexibility with her. Stubborn girl.

It seems like she's been with us forever. 3 months. Time is going too fast and yet so slowly at the same time. Love this girl.

Provo to Denver

The last week has been a whirlwind.

Wednesday: My last day of work.

No more time cut short with this little girl.

Thursday: We cleaned and moved clear out of our beloved apartment in Provo. Pictures unrelated, but cute.

This is what Amelia looks like without all her hair. She was not happy with the cap.

Busting out of her bassinet. She is getting so big.

Look at those gorgeous brown eyes.

Thursday we also said good bye to family and friends.

H&T and kids with Amelia.

Friday: Our big road trip. Estimated 8 hours with no stops. Juan was determined to get there in the 8 hours. Yeah right, not with a 3 month old. She was so good the first 5 hour stretch, slept the whole time. Then we stopped for 1 hour, she was just having so much fun laying out and kicking and stretching. The last 2 hours of the trip she was a fussy girl, but calmed down once we put kid music on. She just sat and listened, so cute.

Saturday and Sunday were spent unpacking, organizing our new home, and getting to know the area.

Monday: The day we've all been waiting for. My first day as a stay-at-home mom, Juan's first day at his internship. I should have gotten a picture of Juan, he looks so good in his work clothes.

Tuesday: We hosted my sister Crystal and her husband and little boy. We spent the day hanging out downtown Denver.

Amelia prepared for the day. Sunhat check, sunblock check, summer blanket check. I love how she's holding her blanket in this picture.

We hit up 16th street mall and ate at Hard Rock Cafe.

Denver State Capitol

Denver Convention Center and the Blue Bear.

Cutie sitting by mom in the back seat.

And today: We are back to hanging out. We had to borrow the swing, pack n play, and stroller from our friend Alyson in Denver for the summer. Everything else we fit in our car, packed it to the brim. Thank you Alyson, you're a lifesaver.

And Millie still is not holding up her head. Not even trying. To her defense, her head is big, in the 90th percentile. Any suggestions on getting this girl to try some head lifts?